No. 21-1331 ___________________________

United States of America

Plaintiff - Appellee

v.

Nathan Lee Kempter, also known as Nathan L. Kempter

Defendant - Appellant ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the District of Nebraska - Lincoln ____________

Submitted: November 18, 2021 Filed: March 29, 2022 ____________ Before BENTON, KELLY, and ERICKSON, Circuit Judges. ____________ KELLY, Circuit Judge.

Nathan Kempter was convicted by a jury of attempted enticement of a minor and interstate travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. On appeal, Kempter challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, as well as several aspects of his sentence. Having jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm. I.

In July 2019, at age 32, Kempter began corresponding with then-14-year-old C.I. through the social media site Reddit, specifically on a Subreddit for runaway teens. After their initial contact, on or about July 23, 2019, C.I. requested they use the social media website Tumblr to communicate instead. At first, Kempter and C.I. discussed how Kempter could help C.I. run away from home, but Kempter then introduced a variety of sexual topics to their conversations. Kempter knew C.I. was 14 years old.

On July 30, 2019, Kempter and C.I. began forming a plan in which Kempter would pick up C.I. in Lincoln, Nebraska, to help her run away. According to C.I., on that date Kempter’s messages also became “more sexual.” In messages sent July 30 and 31, Kempter asked C.I. about her interest in sex, bondage, and pornography, and expressed his desire to engage in sexual activity with her. He also asked C.I. to send him selfies. On August 1, 2019, Kempter suggested they speak over the phone to discuss logistics of him helping C.I. run away so that their conversation would not be in writing, and he told C.I. to delete her call history after they spoke. Ultimately, they arranged for Kempter to meet C.I. outside her parents’ house in Lincoln and to take C.I. to his home in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

On August 2, 2019, Kempter drove to C.I.’s house, and she got into his car. Kempter lowered the passenger seat and covered C.I. with a coat so she was less visible. During the drive, Kempter touched C.I.’s breasts and legs, and talked about his sexual interest in her. Kempter stopped at a Walmart in Lexington, Nebraska, about two and half hours from Lincoln, where he purchased different clothes for C.I. to wear and a blanket to keep her covered. After the Walmart stop, Kempter’s touching became more forceful. At one point, he pulled the car over, got on top of C.I., and put his hands on her neck. During the trip, Kempter told C.I. what to say if anyone found them together and, at some point, he gave C.I. his phone to use to delete her Reddit account. Kempter asked her to delete Tumblr too, but she could not do so without her phone, which she left at home in Lincoln.

-2- Meanwhile, C.I.’s parents discovered she had left home without her cell phone and contacted the Lincoln Police Department (LPD). They provided C.I.’s cell phone and a phone bill, which showed a call to a number from Denver, Colorado. With this information and some additional investigation, the police were able to find Kempter’s address, estimate the route Kempter would be driving, and then use cell phone tower pings to track his car. LPD contacted the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado, and when Kempter an