Previously convicted sex offender from Long Beach sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for attempted sex trafficking of a minor
SANTA ANA, Calif. – A convicted sex offender from Long Beach was sentenced Monday to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to attempted sex trafficking of a child for responding to an online advertisement that offered sex with a 15-year-old girl in exchange for $200.
Victor James Sporman, 47, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James V. Selna. Once he completes the prison sentence, Sporman will be on supervised release for the rest of his life.
The case against Sporman is the result of an undercover operation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigation (HSI). HSI special agents were conducting an anti-sex trafficking operation in Long Beach and posted an advertisement on Craigslist designed to attract individuals interested in engaging in sex acts with minors.
“The outcome of this case should serve as a sobering warning to those who brazenly engage in the sex trafficking of minors about the consequences they face for their actions,” said Joseph Macias, special agent in charge of HSI Los Angeles. “HSI will continue to work tirelessly to identify these dangerous offenders and bring them to justice. Our efforts are vital to protecting young people from the fear and suffering these predators inflict on their victims.”
According to court documents, on Oct. 26, 2016, Sporman responded to the Craigslist advertisement via email and subsequently exchanged a series of text messages with an undercover agent he thought was a 15-year-old girl. Sporman agreed to pay $200 to engage in sex with the “girl.”
In advance of the encounter, Sporman repeatedly texted the undercover investigator photographs of himself and money. When he arrived for the sexual encounter with the “girl,” he had approximately $200 in his possession, as well as two condoms. Sporman was arrested at the scene.
Sporman engaged in nearly identical conduct in 2008 when he was caught in an undercover sting attempting to have sex with a 13-year-old girl. He “was given every opportunity to address his sexual attraction to children, and he did nothing,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “Instead, he continued to troll the internet looking for additional victims.”
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