Las Vegas, Nev. – A twice-convicted sex offender who solicited sex over the Internet from a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl, and then went to McCarran Airport to meet her arriving plane, has been convicted by a jury of two federal child sex crimes, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

Darryl Owen Walizer, 43, of Las Vegas, was convicted on Thursday, February 17, 2011, of coercion and enticement of a minor and commission of a felony sex offense by an individual required to register as a sex offender. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 16, 2010. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 31, 2011, by U.S. District Judge Philip M. Pro, and faces 20 years to life in prison.

"As this case demonstrates, convicted sex offenders and others who use the Internet to prey on children will be located, apprehended and prosecuted," said U.S. Attorney Bogden. "This type of repeat offender faces a very lengthy term of imprisonment, and in the federal system, there is no parole."

"This verdict should serve as a stern warning about the consequences facing sexual predators who use the Internet to stalk young victims," said Claude Arnold, the special agent in charge who oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations in Las Vegas. "ICE will continue to work closely with its law enforcement partners locally, nationally, and internationally to seek justice for those who mistakenly believe cyberspace makes them invisible and invincible."

In March 2010, ICE authorities in Las Vegas received information from the Garland, Texas Police Department that one of their detectives who was acting in an undercover capacity as a 14-year-old female, had been contacted online by Walizer in February 2010 and solicited for sex. Walizer had asked the girl/undercover agent about her level of sexual experience, and if she was looking for an older guy to teach her about sex. In continued online conversations, Walizer's statements became more sexually graphic, and he told the girl he loved her and that she was his girlfriend, and began speaking about engaging in sexual acts with her. The girl told Walizer she was going to Las Vegas to see an uncle. ICE agents arrested Walizer at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas on March 12, 2010, where the girls's plane was supposed to arrive. Walizer has prior convictions for solicitation of a juvenile in Virginia and importuning in Ohio, and is required to register as a sex offender.

The case was investigated by ICE Homeland Security Investigations and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nancy J. Koppe and Christina Silva.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) of the U.S. Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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