Las Vegas, Nev. – A local man has been sentenced to 37 years in federal prison for soliciting sex over the Internet from a person he thought was a minor, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

Darryl Owen Walizer, 43, of Las Vegas, was sentenced on Friday, June 10, 2011, by U.S. District Judge Philip M. Pro to 444 months in prison and lifetime supervised release. Walizer was convicted of coercion and enticement of a minor and commission of a felony sex offense by an individual required to register as a sex offender. Judge Pro sentenced Walizer to 324 months on the first count and 120 months, consecutive, on the second count. Federal law states that a person convicted of the repeat sex offender count must serve 10 years in prison consecutive to the other sentence. This was the first time that a defendant in Nevada had been charged and convicted of this relatively new law passed in 2006. Walizer has two prior convictions for solicitation of a juvenile in Virginia and importuning in Ohio.

"As this case demonstrates, repeat sex offenders face much stricter penalties under new federal laws," said U.S. Attorney Bogden. "The Department of Justice works with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to investigate, track down, and prosecute these dangerous individuals."

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.

"This sentence should serve as a sobering warning about the serious consequences facing those who sexually exploit underage victims," said Michael Harris, Assistant Special Agent in Charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Las Vegas. "The lengthy sentence should also be reassuring for the community because it ensures this predator will no longer be at liberty to prey on young people and put our children at risk."

The case was investigated by ICE HSI and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nancy J. Koppe and Cristina 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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