A Moorpark man was sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison for trying to procure sexually explicit photos from what he thought was a 14-year-old girl he was talking to online.
Thomas Kern Gissell, 29, was sentenced to 140 months on Monday, as well as 20 years of supervised release after prison, $27,000 in restitution payments and $5,100 in special assessments, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.
Gissell pleaded guilty on Jan. 5 to a charge of attempted enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity after it was reported to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office that he contacted undercover officers posing at teen girls online.
That charge comes with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, the DOJ said in a 2023 release.
“Specifically, in August and September of 2022, Gissell knowingly attempted to entice a person whom he believed was a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity,” the release said. “Gissell further admitted in his plea agreement to sending the purported 14-year-old girl images of a lingerie gift card and images of the lingerie he wanted her to purchase with the gift card that he provided.”
Gissell was arrested on VCDA charges in February 2023, though later that month, federal prosecutors filed charges of their own.