UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

┐ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, │ Plaintiff-Appellee, │ > No. 21-6067 │ v. │ │ TYWAN MONTREASE SYKES, │ Defendant-Appellant. │ ┘ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville. No. 3:18-cr-00178-1—Thomas A. Varlan, District Judge.

Argued: October 27, 2022

Decided and Filed: April 24, 2023

Before: McKEAGUE, WHITE, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges. _________________

COUNSEL ARGUED: Mark E. Brown, MENEFEE & BROWN, P.C., Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellant. Luke A. McLaurin, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Mark E. Brown, MENEFEE & BROWN, P.C., Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellant. Luke A. McLaurin, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellee. _________________

OPINION _________________

HELENE N. WHITE, Circuit Judge. Tywan Sykes was convicted of a series of offenses related to child pornography and enticement of a minor. On appeal, he argues that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence seized from his Facebook account and mobile phone; that the district court erroneously admitted evidence of a past sex-offense No. 21-6067 United States v. Sykes Page 2

conviction; that there was insufficient evidence to convict on all charges; and that his sentence is procedurally unreasonable. We AFFIRM. I.

On October 10, 15, and 16, 2018, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received “CyberTips”1 from Facebook, indicating that crimes against a child were possibly being committed. On October 16, 2018, the NCMEC forwarded the third CyberTip to the Knoxville Police Department (KPD). This CyberTip reported that a 43-year-old male appeared to be using private messages on Facebook to entice a 15-year-old female to produce and send child-exploitation images and engage in sexual activity. The CyberTip included excerpts from Facebook messages between a username “TySykes” and a minor named “M.D.,” and suggested that the two may have already met to engage in sexual activity. The CyberTip included the phone number and date of birth associated with the “TySykes” account, both of which matched information on record with the Blount County Sheriff’s Office for Tywan Sykes.

After receiving the CyberTip, the KPD identified M.D., interviewed her, and examined her iPhone. During the interview, M.D. stated that she and Sykes recently had sex and that she had sent nude photographs of herself to Sykes at his request. On October 18, 2018, Investigator John Williams obtained an arrest warrant and Sykes was arrested by federal marshals. Williams interviewed Sykes, seized his phone and placed the phone in a secure Faraday box.2 Sykes denied that he enticed M.D. or had sex with her, and claimed that an ex-girlfriend may have hacked his Facebook account.

A federal grand jury indicted