Joel Alexander Wright, Child Sex Trafficking, California 2016

San Diego, California - A former seminary student from Ohio has pleaded guilty to attempting to adopt or purchase female infants and toddlers in Tijuana for sex, according to a federal court indictment.

Joel Alexander Wright, 23, admitted in his plea agreement that he placed ads on Craigslist Tijuana purporting to seek a female tour guide, but ultimately confided to a cooperating witness and an undercover federal agent that he wanted to 'adopt/own a baby girl (under the age of 3) and I want to have intercourse with her after I own her but don’t be telling people that…I won’t pay until I have seen the baby and I will pay the parents then…the cheapest baby under 3 would be good.'

Wright also admitted to purchasing an American Airlines ticket to travel from Ohio to San Diego on January 29, 2016, arriving at 11:30 a.m. He was arrested at the airport and has remained in custody since.

Wright is scheduled to be sentenced on July 1, 2016, at 9 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison, with a minimum mandatory 10-year sentence, and a maximum fine of $250,000.

The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/ohio-seminary-student-pleads-guilty-admits-seeking-sex-infants-tijuana