RENO — A 38-year-old California man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to transporting a 14-year-old girl to northern Nevada with the intent to have sex with her.
U.S. District Judge Miranda Du sentenced Nicholas Wessel of Richmond at a hearing Friday in Reno.
Prosecutors say Wessel began communicating with the teenager earlier this year on Facebook and through cellphone texts before he arranged to pick her up in Modesto, California.
U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden says Wessel took her to his home and engaged in sexual intercourse with her on May 5, and the next day drove her to Reno before having sex with her at a Sparks hotel.
Bogden says anyone who preys on underage children on the Internet will face federal prosecution.