SACRAMENTO, CA—Kevin Michael Wood, 35, of Rancho Cordova, pleaded guilty today to attempting to receive sexually explicit images of minors and child pornography, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, on April 25, 2014, Wood responded to an ad in an online forum placed by law enforcement posing as a 14-year-old girl who was bored and looking for someone to talk to. For the next 13 days, Wood exchanged e-mails with the purported girl, some were sexual in nature. On multiple occasions, Wood requested the girl send him sexually explicit photographs of herself. On May 7, 2014, Wood was arrested when he arrived at a Citrus Heights park to have sexual contact with the girl. For his intended sexual encounter, Wood purchased and brought with him various items, including condoms and an iPhone.

Wood is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Morrison C. England Jr. on January 15, 2015. Wood faces five to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Citrus Heights Police Department, and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office’s High Tech Crimes Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Rodriguez is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources” tab for information about Internet safety education.