A Sparks man has been convicted of Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Child, Attempted Child Abuse, and Soliciting a Child for Prostitution. Then 47-year old Keith Watkins (dob 7/26/75) was arrested by the Human Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT) Unit, following an investigation that began in 2022.

In mid-April of 2022, Watkins contacted who he believed to be a 16-year-old girl through social media, unaware that it was an undercover account for a member of the HEAT unit. Even after the undercover detective informed the defendant that she was reportedly 16 years old, he continued to send sexually explicit messages to the account, as well as a video of him having sexual intercourse with an unknown female. During an exchange of messages at the end of April, Watkins asked the believed-teen if she was an escort and said he wanted to work with her in getting her into prostitution.

Between May and August, Watkins continued to message the undercover detective, talking about the two of them having sex for money. In mid-August, law enforcement was informed that the defendant was at the Peppermill, where he was arrested.

Although the defendant testified that he was just “messing around” with the believed-teen, Deputy District Attorney Darcy Cameron presented evidence that Watkins had also contacted another undercover profile where the detective was similarly posing as a child and the defendant also attempted to recruit her into prostitution. Cameron argued how this repeated behavior showed that the defendant was clearly looking to enlist a child into prostituting. Sentencing is set for January 16, 2025 before the Honorable Judge David Hardy.

A recording of the press release for media can be heard below. Mug shots can be found on the WCDA Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Audio file: Keith Watkins press release