The United States Attorney's Office

NEW YORK MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO USING INTERNET TO ENTICE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ‘GIRL’ TO HAVE SEX

A man who traveled from New York to Southern California after spending several weeks chatting via e-mail with what he thought was a 13-year old Southern California girl pleaded guilty today to federal charges of using the Internet to attempt to entice a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity.

Douglas William Evert, 46, of Dover Plains, New York, pleaded guilty this morning before United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips in Riverside. In addition to the Internet-related charge, Evert also pleaded guilty to committing the offense while being required to be registered as a sex offender.

As a result of the charges, Evert faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 20 years in federal prison when Judge Phillips sentences him on October 20, 2008.

Evert was arrested in April 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 undercover investigator with the Riverside County Sexual Predator Internet Decoy Enforcement Riverside (SPIDER) Team who was posing as a girl.

According to court documents, Evert 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 in late March, 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. 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 court documents, 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 case against Evert was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Riverside County 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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