A former Edmonson County teacher will be sentenced Tuesday in a federal criminal case stemming from an investigation into an alleged attempt to solicit a juvenile for sex.

William Lindsey, 30, pleaded guilty in February in U.S. District Court to charges of attempted online enticement of a minor and attempted production of child pornography.

The federal case was the result of work by a detective with the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office who posed online as a 15-year-old girl while working undercover.

Lindsey’s attorney, Alan Simpson, filed a motion Thursday for a downward departure in Lindsey’s sentence.

The filing said federal sentencing guidelines, which take into account the nature of a defendant’s criminal charges and a defendant’s prior criminal history, calculate a sentence for Lindsey ranging from 19 years and seven months to 24 years and five months.

Simpson is requesting Lindsey be sentenced to 10 years in prison, the mandatory minimum for his charges under the law.

After graduating from Western Kentucky University, Lindsey became a substitute teacher and became a full-time employee in 2019 in the Edmonson County school system as a music teacher, according to Simpson’s motion.

Simpson argues that the penalty range recommended by sentencing guidelines is “patently unjust” for Lindsey, who has no prior criminal history.

“Thankfully, Will’s behavior, as abhorrent as it is, resulted in no physical harm being done to anyone,” Simpson said in the motion. “Encouraging a minor to engage in sexual discussions is equally inappropriate. But, does it warrant a sentence normally observed for violent offenders? As people often say to the undersigned counsel, ‘you could kill someone and not get that much time.’ ”

Simpson said a 10-year sentence would be sufficient to deter future illegal conduct.

Federal court records said Lindsey contacted the undercover detective online Jan. 7, 2021, with the detective posing as a 15-year-old girl living in Louisville.

The two chatted with each other for several days on the Kik messenger app, during which Lindsey began sending messages of a sexual nature, court records show.

“He asked about the undercover’s sexual history, requested to receive sexual images and requested to engage in sex acts with the undercover,” the plea agreement said. “Lindsey told the undercover that he wanted to have sex all night with her and later asked for ‘naughty pics,’ specifically pictures of her breasts and vagina.”

Later, the two spoke over the phone, and Lindsey repeated his interest in engaging in sex acts with the agent and encouraged the detective to masturbate while talking to him, court records said.

Law enforcement traveled to Edmonson County High School, where Lindsey was employed, to question him Jan. 13, 2021.

During questioning, Lindsey reportedly confessed to the sexual nature of the conversation with the undercover agent.

“Lindsey stated he should not have engaged in the behavior due to the age of the undercover persona,” the plea agreement said.