VERNON, B.C. — A British Columbia man has been sentenced to almost five years in prison for luring underage girls online.
David Willerth of Vernon pleaded guilty this week to 18 charges, 16 of them for communicating via the Internet to lure a child under 16, one for possession of child pornography and another for arranging a sexual offence against a child.
Seven other charges were stayed by the Crown, who had asked for seven years in prison while the defence had asked for three.
B.C. Supreme Court has heard Willerth posed as a modeling agent on Facebook to get the attention of girls ages 12 to 16.
The Crown has called the 40-year-old man's actions planned and deliberate, saying he would solicit girls to send him nude photographs under a fake name.
Willerth, who was first arrested in July 2013 after RCMP seized computers from his home, will serve four years and nine months in prison with credit for time served. (CKIZ)
