Sacramento, California - Kevin Joseph Martin, 43, of Sacramento, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of attempting to entice a child to engage in illegal sexual activity, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, between March 9, 2017, and April 22, 2017, Martin communicated with an undercover agent who was posing as person with a sexual interest in children. During the chats using a messaging application and text messages, Martin discussed with the undercover agent various ways to sexually assault the 11-year-old daughter that the undercover agent claimed to have. Eventually, the undercover agent agreed to meet Martin in a parking lot where Martin believed he would have the opportunity to perform sex acts on the girl. Martin was arrested by law enforcement when he arrived at the agreed upon location.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force, and the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shelley D. Weger is prosecuting the case.

Martin is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley on August 30, 2018. Martin faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.