Lawrence Allen Schmidt, Coercion of a Child, Texas 2022

An El Paso man was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in federal prison for his role in enticing a child to engage in sexual activity.

Lawrence Allen Schmidt, 53, was charged with one count of coercion or enticement of a female under 18 years of age. According to court documents, Schmidt began communicating through social media with a 14-year-old girl. His conversation with the child became sexual in nature and he arranged to meet the girl at her house. When he arrived, he had condoms, lubricant and candy in his possession.

Unbeknownst to Schmidt, he had been communicating with an undercover employee with the FBI. On April 4, 2022, Schmidt pleaded guilty to the crime.

“Those who seek to manipulate children for their own sexual gratification deserve prison time,” said Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristy Callahan. “I am thankful for the efforts of our law enforcement partners to remove these predators from our streets.”

The FBI, HSI, DPS, and El Paso Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Dos Santos prosecuted the case.

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

The exact date of sentencing was not provided in the source, but the date of the crime was not specified. The length of the sentence was provided as 120 months in prison.

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