LAKE HAVASU CITY – A Lake Havasu City man who was snared in an undercover investigation targeting adults seeking sex with underage girls is going to the Arizona Department of Corrections under terms of a plea agreement entered Friday in Mohave County Superior Court. Dean Tarnow, 46, is one of more than 20 men from Las Vegas to Parker who ended up indicted through an operation involving a Mohave County Sheriff’s detective who pretended to be a teenager.
Prosecutor Karolina Czaplinska told Mohave County Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle that Tarnow posted an ad on Craig’s List expressing interest in meeting women residing in the Lake Havasu and Parker area. She said the detective answered the ad, which evolved into a dialogue during which Tarnow thought he was flirting with a 13-year-old girl.
Czaplinska told the Court that Tarnow solicited sexual involvement while believing he was communicating with a teenager. She said he sent her nude images of himself and asked her to send him the same.
Czaplinska said the communications led to Tarnow and his target agreeing to meet at a Lake Havasu City park. Tarnow was reportedly taken into custody at a nearby fast food restaurant where he had placed an order intending to deliver food during the meeting that was interrupted by his arrest.
Tarnow pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted sexual conduct with a minor and to luring a minor under the age of 15 for sexual exploitation. Seven other criminal charges are dismissed in the plea agreement.
The deal requires Judge Carlisle to impose a five-year prison term followed by probation at an April 6 sentencing hearing.
- Dave Hawkins
