Defendant Attempted to Entice Undercover Law Enforcement Officer Posing as a 14-Year-Old Female to Engage in Sex Acts
DALLAS - A 37-year-old former resident of Plano, Texas, Wellman Anderson Reyes, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn to 144 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in April 2015 to one count of attempted enticement of a minor, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Judge Lynn ordered that his sentence run consecutive to any sentence he may receive in an unrelated, pending online solicitation of a minor case currently pending in the 291st Judicial District in Dallas County. Reyes will be deported to El Salvador after serving his sentence.
The investigation began in 2013 when the Garland Police Department received a tip about an inappropriate text that was sent to a minor girl. The investigation revealed that Reyes had sent that text. To locate Reyes, a detective with the Garland Police Department, acting in an undercover capacity and assuming the persona of a 14-year-old female, sent a friend request to Reyes. Reyes accepted the request, and for two months conversation between the two ensued, with Reyes enticing her to engage in sex acts with him. Reyes sent sexually explicit photos of himself, and he requested the girl send him nude photos of herself. They agreed to meet at an apartment in Garland to engage in sex acts, but when Reyes arrived, he was taken into custody.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative, which was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ and click on the tab “resources."
The Garland Police Department, Plano Police Department and U.S. Secret Service investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Camille Sparks and Lori Walker prosecuted.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
