A Fort Worth, Texas, man who responded to an online post of an undercover officer masquerading as a 13-year-old girl was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on Tuesday.
U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported on its website that Scott Brandon Tosch, 49, replied to a Craigslist ad in August 2016 with the title, “hey bored and lookin for somethin to do while still summertime… school coming up soon… hmu.”
The Fort Worth officer responded to Tosch’s email, claiming that he was a 13-year-old girl. The continued correspondence became sexually graphic in nature, with the 49-year-old reportedly making arrangements to have sex with the 13-year-old.
The Fort Worth Police Department took Tosch into custody on August 18, 2016, when he arrived at the agreed upon location.
U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means laid down the 120-month sentence following Tosch’s guilty plea. According to a U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas press release, the 49-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of enticement of a minor.
In addition to the Fort Worth Police Department, the case was investigated by ICE and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
“This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Project Safe Childhood (PSC) initiative. PSC is a department initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes against children,” the USAO press release explained. “Since 2011, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed 20,260 PSC cases against 19,111 defendants.”
The USAO also announced that Judge Means ordered the Fort Worth man to report to the Bureau of Prisons on June 26, 2017.
[Featured Image: Fort Worth Police Department]
