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Press Release

Omaha Man Sentenced for Attempted Enticement of a Minor

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Nebraska

Acting United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Raul Valdez Rivas, 43, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for attempted enticement of a minor. The Honorable Brian C. Buescher sentenced Valdez Rivas to 120 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal prison system. After his release from prison, Valdez Rivas will be required to serve 5 years of supervised release. He will also be required to register as a sex offender and is subject to deportation.

In April 2020, Valdez Rivas contacted the phone number listed in an online prostitution advertisement. Valdez Rivas communicated via text message and phone calls with a sheriff’s deputy posing as a fifteen-year-old boy. Valdez Rivas offered to pay the boy to engage in sexual acts with him and arranged a meeting. When Valdez Rivas arrived at the designated location, he was arrested.

This 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 Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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.

This case was investigated by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Omaha FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.

Updated April 19, 2021

Topic
Project Safe Childhood