Internet User Pleads Guilty to Sex Charge
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LOS ANGELES — A Texas man pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to traveling to California to have sex with an underage girl he contacted on the Internet.
Under a plea agreement with the government, prosecutors will recommend that Shelby Hardage, 58, be sentenced to 12 to 18 months in prison. Conviction of interstate travel to have sex with a juvenile carries a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison.
Hardage was caught during an online sting operation by the multi-agency Southern California Regional Sexual Assault Felony Assault Team.
Prosecutors said Hardage began communicating on the Internet with an undercover officer who posed as a 13-year-old girl last fall. Soon afterward, they said, he started making sexual overtures, describing specific sex acts he wanted her to perform.
Hardage flew to California to meet the girl on Dec. 26 at the Santa Monica Pier, where he was arrested.
He will be sentenced July 12 by U.S. District Judge Dean D. Pregerson.
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