Christopher Contreras, Child Enticement, California 2020

Fresno Man Pleads Guilty to Child Enticement, Faces Life in Prison

A 29-year-old Fresno man has pleaded guilty to attempting to coerce a minor and enticing a minor, crimes that carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Christopher Contreras, of Fresno, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted coercion of a minor and one count of enticement of a minor, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Contreras used the messaging application Skout, text messages, and Snapchat to engage in sexually explicit communications with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old female for approximately one week. He then traveled to a location in Fresno on July 31, 2020, to meet the purported minor for sexual activity.

However, Contreras was actually communicating with undercover law enforcement investigators, who arrested him and booked him into the Fresno County Jail. He was released on bail.

On October 13, 2020, law enforcement officers responded to a call about a missing juvenile, and an investigation confirmed that Contreras had picked up the juvenile at a location in Fresno after making arrangements through messages on the Meet Me application. Contreras was arrested again and booked into the Fresno County Jail.

He was later charged federally in this case and has been in federal custody since June 10, 2021. Contreras is scheduled to be sentenced on April 1, 2024.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Central California Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, specifically Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office and the Fresno Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney David L. Gappa is prosecuting the case.

Contreras faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and up to a life term of supervised release for each of the two counts. The actual sentence will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the government to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.