South Sacramento man sentenced to 24 years for attempted online enticement
Was caught by an undercover agent
Last week a Sacramento man was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Sacramento.
Dilesh Sharma, 50, of Sacramento, was sentenced on Thursday, March 30 to 24 years in prison, to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for attempted online enticement of a minor for sexual purposes, distribution of child pornography, and receipt of child pornography.
“Today’s sentence is a warning to other online predators,” Eastern District of California U.S. Phillip Attorney Talbert said. “We are determined to use every legal avenue we have to identify and apprehend these criminals and protect children from harm.”
Evidence showed that in November 2016, Sharma used the Craigslist.org and the Kik dating application to electronically message back and forth with a person who identified himself as an adult, but who Sharma did not know was an undercover law enforcement agent.
Sharma expressed his interest in gaining access to a minor for sexual purposes, and the undercover agent told Sharma that his girlfriend had an 11-year-old daughter. Eventually, Sharma’s conversations with the undercover agent reached a point where Sharma suggested that the two meet.
On March 30, 2017, they met to set up an in-person meeting where Sharma was supposed to meet the minor for a sexual purpose. The next day, Sharma arrived at the designated meeting place and was arrested.
During a review of Sharma’s iPhone, seized from him at the time of arrest, law enforcement agents discovered that Sharma received and distributed child pornography on Kik with someone other than the undercover agent.
Sharma was indicted in May, 2017.
