RICHLAND, Wash. – A Pasco man was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for attempting to meet a 13-year-old for sex at a hotel in Richland, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington.
Julio Cesar Anaya, 45, will also be on supervised release for the rest of his life after his prison sentence.
Court documents presented at the hearing say in March 2022, a detective working undercover as a 13-year-old girl on a website known for sexual encounters. Anaya contacted the detective and discussed having sex with the fake 13-year-old over three weeks.
Anaya also tried persuading the fake 13-year-old to come to his house in Pasco, even offering to pay for her Uber.
On April 11, 2023, Anaya booked a hotel room in Richland and gave the details to the purported child. When he arrived the next day and checked in, he was placed under arrest by Richland Police Department detectives.
A search warrant for his bag found massage oil, condoms, erectile dysfunction medication, lubricant and hand sanitizer. A search of his phone discovered the messages with the purported 13-year-old and over 300 images of child pornography, including infants and toddlers.
“It is incredibly fortunate that this child predator’s attempt at victimizing a person whom he believed to be a teenage girl was thwarted by our law enforcement partnerships,” said Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer. “The devastating impact of online predators cannot be overstated. This sentence sends a strong message that abusing children will not be tolerated, whether it is downloading and possessing child pornography, trying to meet children for sex, or any other form of child exploitation.”
