Sparks Man Charged with Soliciting a Minor for Sex
| U.S. Attorney’s Office November 08, 2013 |
RENO, NV—A Sparks resident has been arrested for soliciting a minor to engage in sex with him in exchange for a laptop computer, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.
Shane Deric Bateman, 41, is charged in a criminal complaint with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. Bateman was arrested yesterday afternoon in Reno and is scheduled for an initial appearance hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge William C. Cobb at 3:00 p.m. today in Reno.
“We will continue to work with our local law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute persons who exploit minors for sex,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden. “If you are convicted of this type of crime, you will face stiff federal penalties, including imprisonment, forfeiture, and fines, and you will have to register as a convicted sex offender.”
According to the complaint, on November 5, 2013, a 16-year-old female reported to a Reno Police Department detective who was working on the Street Enforcement Team that she had allegedly had sex with Shane Bateman in exchange for a laptop computer. The 16-year-old provided the 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 Reno Police Department 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 conversations with Bateman about having sex with him in exchange for a laptop computer. Batemen agreed to meet Kylie that afternoon at a room at a Motel 6 in Reno, Nevada. 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 is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carla Higginbotham.
The public is reminded that criminal complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
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."