A jury has convicted a Sun Valley man of all charges, after he attempted to meet up with a decoy 14-year-old girl for sex. 24-year-old Gerson Rax-Pop (dob 10/1/01) was found guilty of Attempted Kidnapping of a Minor, Lure or Attempt to Lure Child with Use of Computer Technology to Engage in Sexual Conduct, Attempted Child Abuse or Neglect Involving Sexual Abuse, and Attempted Statutory Sexual Seduction by Person Over 21.
The case began in December of last year, when a decoy Facebook account operated by the Washoe County Human Exploitation and Recovery Operations (HERO) team was contacted by Rax-Pop. After messaging back and forth with the decoy child account, Rax-Pop insisted on meeting with the child so the two could have sex at a local park. When the defendant arrived at the planned location, he was arrested by detectives.
At trial, Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Koss admitted statements from Rax-Pop that he made during the Preliminary Hearing, where he made admissions that he thought he was talking to a 14-year-old girl, he thought the minor was his girlfriend, he wanted to have sex with the minor, and he showed up at that location to meet with her.
Sentencing is set for August 13th before the Honorable Kathleen Drakulich.
Audio of Rax-Pop press release
