Davison Pleads Guilty to Coercion and Enticement of 13-Year-Old for Sexual Activity Faces Minimum Mandatory 10 Years to Life in Federal Prison

SALT LAKE CITY—Robert Lavern Davison, age 41, of Kelseyville, California, arrested in February after he attempted to persuade a minor from Utah to travel to California to engage in sexual activity with him, pleaded guilty to one count of coercion and enticement for illegal sexual activity in federal court Monday.

U.S. District Court Judge Dale Kimball set sentencing in the case for Dec. 17, 2009. Davison faces a minimum mandatory 10-year prison sentence that could go as high as life in prison. Davison will undergo a psychosexual examination and testing before he is sentenced.

Davison’s arrested followed a 12-week investigation by the Centerville Police Department, the FBI, and the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. According to charging documents, Davison communicated with the minor between June 1 and Nov. 13, 2008, attempting to coerce or persuade her to come to California to meet him. On Nov. 13, 2008, the minor left for school and did not return home. The Centerville Police Department was contacted and launched an investigation. They were joined by the Utah ICAC Task Force and the FBI. Centerville police officers located the 13-year-old at the Salt Lake City inter-modal hub late that evening waiting to board a Greyhound bus to California using a pre-paid ticket. Davison was arrested Feb. 12, 2009, in California and transferred to Utah to face federal charges.

In asking a federal magistrate to keep Davison in custody pending resolution of the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Trina Higgins said that unlike many cases where officers are acting in an undercover capacity in online chats with perpetrators, this case involved an actual 13-year-old girl who was one bus ride away from meeting Davison. Centerville detectives figured out the most likely mode of transportation to California the minor was a bus—an investigative break that prevented Davison from meeting the minor. Davison has been in custody since his arrest.

As a part of a plea agreement reached with federal prosecutors, Davison admitted that he used the Internet, in particular instant messaging, to coerce the minor to travel to California to engage in sexual activity with him. He also admitted he knew that he could have been charged with a criminal offense for engaging in the sexual activity with the minor, who was 13 years old at the time.