Providence realtor convicted of seeking sex with 10-year-old girl

PROVIDENCE — A realtor from the East Side of Providence faces up to 30 years in prison after his conviction for attempting to entice a 10-year-old girl into sexual activity, law enforcement officials announced Tuesday.

Thomas McLucky Hammond, 52, was convicted Friday of one count of attempting to persuade, entice, induce or coerce a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Aaron L. Weisman.

Prosecutors said that in June 2017, Hammond responded to an advertisement in the "casual encounters" section of Craigslist.com, and over three days he communicated with a man he thought to be the stepfather of a 10-year-old girl in Warwick. Hammond asked the man if he was sexually abusing the girl and proposed joining in the abuse at a pool party at the family's home.

Hammond agreed to meet the man in a parking lot on Post Road in Warwick before going to the pool party. When Hammond arrived at the parking lot on June 21, he was arrested by members of the Rhode Island Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

During the trial, Hammond said that he is a gay man with no sexual interest in girls. Hammond testified that he receives sexual gratification from talking to straight men who talk about sexually abusing children, claiming that he had merely engaged in fantasy and would not have gone through the sexual activity.

The jury convicted Hammond after deliberating for three hours.

Hammond is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 14 by Chief Judge William E. Smith, who presided over the four-day trial. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and up to 30 years; lifetime supervised release; and a $250,000 fine. Hammond is currently detained at the Wyatt Detention Center.