Christopher Brereton, age 35, of Fargo, North Dakota, was sentenced on Thursday, Feb. 17, to 37 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, said Leonard C Boyle, US Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in January 2020, Brereton began chatting online with a minor female who had an online profile stating she was 18 years old.
In February 2020, a law enforcement officer received permission to take over the minor’s account, and in an undercover capacity, the officer informed Brereton of the female’s true age of 15 years old, court documents said.
Brereton continued to chat with the “girl,” discussed engaging in sexual activity with her, and made plans to drive to Connecticut to meet her for sex, the US Attorney's Office said.
In March 2020, Brereton began driving from North Dakota and he arrived at a hotel in Meriden the next day.
At the hotel, Brereton unpacked lingerie and sexual paraphernalia he had purchased for the planned sexual encounter. He was arrested later that day by New Haven Police on state charges after he drove to a location where he had arranged to meet the “girl," court documents show.
Brereton has been detained since his arrest.
In July 2021, he pleaded guilty to one count of traveling interstate with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
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