A Georgia man was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Friday for attempting to entice an 11-year-old child to engage in sexual activity, according to a court document.
Douglas Scott Phillips, 52, of Richmond Hill, Georgia, pleaded guilty to these charges on Sep. 11, the documents said.
According to court documents, on Nov. 15, 2018, a detective with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office performed an online undercover operation to identify individuals seeking to meet children for sex. The detective posted a notice on an online bulletin board pretending to be a mother with an 11-year-old daughter.
Phillips responded to the notice and confirmed the age of the daughter and indicated that he was “very interested” and sent the undercover detective an explicit photo of himself, court documents said.
Over the next two months, Phillips and the undercover officer had several conversations in which Phillips expressed his desire and intention to engage in sexual activity with the 11-year-old child, the documents said.
According to the court documents, during the conversations, Phillips instructed the child on how to masturbate and sent pornographic photos illustrating how to do so. On Jan. 7, 2019, Phillips told the undercover detective that he was serious about meeting with the child and confirmed that he had texted with the “child” about masturbation.
On Jan.18, 2019, Phillips was arrested at his Georgia home. During an interview, Phillips admitted seeing the advertisement and following up “just to see what it was.” He also admitted to engaging in sexual conversation with the “mother" and sending pictures of himself to the “child,” court documents said.
Phillips was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for attempting to entice an 11-year-old child to engage in sexual activity. He was also ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release and to register as a sex offender.
