A Little Rock man pleaded guilty Friday morning to a federal charge of attempted enticement of a minor, admitting he solicited sex with young children in online conversations.
U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker accepted the guilty plea from David Allan Frazier, 56, who remains in custody until he is sentenced at a later date.
Authorities began investigating Frazier in June after someone complained to the Arkansas State Police that during online conversations with the poster of a Craigslist advertisement, the poster expressed an interest in having sex with a 7-year-old, according to acting U.S. Attorney Patrick Harris.
The poster, who turned out to be Frazier, had encouraged the person who answered his ad to start communicating with him on the Kik application, where he used the name "yplover," according to Harris.
The Craigslist ad was titled "I Know Your Secret," and a couple of weeks later, an undercover officer answered an identical ad with the same title on Craigslist, Harris said. Soon, the undercover officer was communicating on the Kik app with the poster of the ad, who again expressed a desire to have sex with a child, Harris said.
The undercover officer played along, saying she had an 8-year-old daughter and wanted to watch the girl have sex with yplover, according to Harris.
He said Frazier requested a photograph of the child and the officer sent a photograph of herself as an 8-year-old. Harris said Frazier responded that the child "was cute and turned him on" and that he thought about printing out the photograph and doing a "tribute." When asked to describe a "tribute," Frazier then sent a video of himself masturbating, Harris said.
Frazier had also sent two photographs of himself to the person who reported him to the state police, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.
Harris and Raymond Parmer Jr., Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge, said in a news release that Frazier described "in great detail" the acts he wanted to perform on the "daughter" and asked what the "rules" would be for meeting the girl.
Frazier and the undercover officer then discussed what the girl might like as a gift and what her favorite movies are, and Frazier suggested that "Once she's comfortable around me, she could sit on my lap while we watch a movie. Something totally innocent ... Disney or something."
Homeland Security agents arrested Frazier on Sept. 6 on a warrant at his place of employment, which wasn't identified in the news release. During a search of Frazier's office, Parmer said, officers found a gun safe containing two computer thumb drives, a computer hard drive, a bottle of lubricant, a selfie stick and a "sexual stimulation device."
Frazier was indicted Sept. 12 by a federal grand jury on the same charge to which he pleaded guilty Friday.
The news release said federal agents also discovered multiple images of child pornography on Frazier's mobile phone and the devices found in the safe. It said they also found chat messages between Frazier and someone claiming to be 14 years old, in which Frazier asked for a sexually explicit photograph.
"As people continue to be emboldened by the perceived anonymity they believe the Internet provides them, their actions become more and more despicable," Harris said. "Frazier's conduct is among the most egregious we have seen."
The charge is punishable by between 10 years and life in prison.
In addition to Homeland Security, the investigation was conducted by the Arkansas attorney general's office and the Benton County sheriff's office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bryant.
Metro on 10/07/2017