Federal Jury Convicts Man For Luring Girl For Sex On Craigs List

           LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Following a two-day jury trial, a local man was convicted today of using the internet to knowingly persuade, induce and entice a minor girl to engage in sexual activity with him during March 2013, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.
           
            Sergio Torres, 34, of North Las Vegas, was convicted of one count of coercion and enticement and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 6, 2014, at 10:30 a.m.  Torres faces a minimum of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count.

            “As this case warns, there are predators lurking openly on the internet seeking children and minors for sex,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden.  “Everyone, and particularly parents and teenagers, need to be especially careful when responding to online advertisements.”

            According to the court records, on March 7, 2013, a Henderson Police Department detective working undercover and posing as a 14-year-old girl, responded to an advertisement on craigslist.com. The poster of the advertisement, later identified as Torres, stated he was a virgin and was seeking a girl to “take his virginity.”  Over the next two weeks, the detective and Torres exchanged emails and texts, and Torres discussed plans and arrangements for a sexual encounter with the girl.  On March 18, 2013, Torres texted that he had made a room reservation at Sunset Station for March 25, 2013, and that he had purchased lingerie and would meet the girl at a parking lot. On March 25, detectives arrested Torres when he arrived in the parking lot, and seized from him the telephone that he had used to text and call the detective, as well as a hotel room key, condoms, sexual lubricant, lingerie, and stockings in a small size. 

The case was investigated by the Henderson Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Roger Yang and Special Assistant United States Attorney Allison Herr.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal
Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals, federal,
state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually
exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project
Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about internet
safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."