Federal prosecutors say they are pleased a judge didn’t believe a Peoria man’s claim that he was trying to investigate child sex trafficking, but instead was trying to get a child to have sex with him.
Acting U.S. Attorney Doug Quivey said in a statement that a 37-year prison sentence handed down Thursday to James Wright, 50, was, “severe,” and “demonstrates that those who desire and take steps to sexually harm people they believe to be children will be severally punished.”
Wright chatted online with someone believed to be a 15-year-old girl, wanted sexual contact, and pornographic pictures. Authorities say he showed up at an agreed-upon location with the exact amount of money he said he’d pay the girl for the sex act, in a pocket separate from the rest of his money.
Wright was convicted of Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Child, and of doing so while a registered sex offender. He was convicted in 2012 of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse of a Minor.
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