The United States Attorney's Office

NEW YORK MAN ARRESTED AFTER TRAVELING TO
CALIFORNIA AND GOING TO MEET ‘GIRL’ TO HAVE SEX

A man who traveled from New York to Southern California after spending several weeks chatting via email with what he thought was a 13-year old girl from Moreno Valley has been arrested on federal charges of using the Internet to entice a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity.

Douglas William Evert, 46, of Dover Plains, New York, was arrested Monday afternoon after he traveled Los Angeles International Airport and then to Moreno Valley to meet with the girl he thought was named Allison. In actuality, “Allison” was an investigator with the Riverside County SPIDER Team who was posing as a girl in an undercover capacity.

Evert made his initial court appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in Riverside. A United States Magistrate Judge ordered him held without bail and scheduled an arraignment for May 28.

According to an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint that was filed on April 17, Evert in late March contacted “Allison,” whom he believed to be a 13-year old girl, on a MySpace.com bulletin board called “Older Men/Younger Girls.” In his first conversation with Allison, Evert said he was engaged in a sexual relationship with an 11-year old girl. Evert communicated regularly with Allison, via instant messaging, about sex and the possibility of meeting in person to engage in sexual conduct. Evert finally arranged to meet Allison in Moreno Valley to engage in sexually explicit conduct with her on the evening of April 20. This meeting did not take place, but Evert did drive to Moreno Valley yesterday, at which time he was arrested near a fast food restaurant on Pigeon Pass, which was the location Evert had arranged to meet "Allison."

According to New York state records detailed in the affidavit, Evert was convicted of sexually abusing a 10-year old girl in 1991. For that offense, Evert received a sentence of 40 days in jail and five years probation. 

The federal charge of using the Internet to entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct carries a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence and a potential sentence of life without parole.

A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty.

The case against Evert was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Riverside County Sexual Predator Internet Decoy Enforcement Riverside (SPIDER) Team, which is comprised of investigators with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

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