A prison term was ordered Friday for a Las Vegas resident who was charged in an undercover law enforcement operation targeting men who prey upon minors for sex. Durell Shaw, 33, is among nine men indicted after engaging in sexually oriented communication with a Mohave County Sheriff’s detective who was posing as a teenager.
Prosecutor Greg McPhillips said each of the defendants responded to social media posts by the detective before the detective diverted the communication to text messages while posing as 13-year-old “Sabrina.” Shaw was intercepted by officers last October when he drove to Kingman to meet Sabrina.
Judge Billy Sipe told Shaw that he didn’t believe his claim that he traveled to Kingman to help a homeless and hungry kid. Sipe told Shaw the content of his text messages reflected sexual motivation, not a humanitarian mission.
“You thought you were coming here to have sex with a 13-year-old child,” Sipe said. “It is clear that you were soliciting sex from someone you thought was a 13-year-old.”
Judge Sipe imposed an eight year prison term and ordered lifetime probation for Shaw, who pleaded guilty to attempted sexual conduct with a minor and luring a minor under the age of 15 for sexual exploitation.
