June 2, 2014

Sparks Man Sentenced in Sex Trafficking Case

RENO, NV—A Sparks, Nevada resident who was trading laptop computers for sex with minor girls was sentenced today to five years in prison and 10 years of supervised release, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

Shane Deric Bateman, 41, who pleaded guilty on March 3, 2014, to one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor for sex, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert C. Jones. Bateman will also have to register as a sex offender.

“We will continue to work with our local and federal law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute persons who exploit minors for sex,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden. “This includes using federal laws to pursue ‘johns,’ or customers of prostitution.”

According to the court records, on November 5, 2013, the Innocence Lost Task Force in Reno was involved in a sex trafficking investigation in which a 16-year-old female victim reported that she had sex with Shane Bateman in exchange for a laptop computer. The 16-year-old provided a task force detective with the laptop computer and her cell phone, which she said contained contact information for pimps or “johns.”

On November 6, 2013, Bateman sent an unsolicited text to the 16-year-old’s cell phone indicating that he had another laptop with a built-in web camera which he would be willing to trade for sex with any other young girl that the 16-year-old knew. The detective began communicating with Bateman as if he were the 16-year-old, telling Bateman that “she” had another girl in mind for him and that “she” would have the other girl contact him. On November 7, 2013, the detective, posing as a different 16-year-old named “Kylie,” engaged in text message conversations with Bateman about having sex with him in exchange for a laptop computer. Bateman agreed to meet Kylie that afternoon at a room at a Motel 6 in Reno, Nevada, in order to engage in sexual activity in exchange for the laptop computer. When Bateman arrived at the motel room, he was arrested by detectives.

The investigation was conducted by the Innocence Lost Task Force, which is made up of the FBI and the Regional Street Enforcement Team, which includes the Reno Police Department, Sparks Police Department, FBI, and UNR Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carla Higginbotham.

The case has been 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 individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”