A man who was arrested last year as part of the Net Nanny bust to meet a fictitious 13-year-old — not knowing the person was an undercover cop — was found guilty last week by a Cowlitz County jury.
The trial, which only lasted two days, found Brandon Alexander Head, 27, of Joint Base Lewis–McChord, guilty of second-degree attempted rape of a child and felony communication with a minor for immoral purposes. His sentencing hearing is set for May 28.
According to court documents, on Oct. 28 a detective from the Seattle Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, operating undercover under the alias of a Kelso 13-year-old named Taylor, encountered Head on a dating website and sent graphic images to the undercover officer.
After the undercover cop posing as Taylor revealed her age as 13, Head responded, "Woah, I was not expecting that," a police report states. They proceeded to exchange photos and then he agreed to drive to Longview for their rendezvous.
While traveling from the Tacoma area to Longview, Head and Taylor exchanged messages. According to court records, Head became apprehensive, fearing that it could be a setup, even stating “Pretty sure this is an operation,” and asked the undercover cop, “r u a cop?”
He later agreed to go into the WinCo Foods supermarket in Longview and buy Taylor a Red Bull before he arrived at the agreed location.
When he was detained, police discovered a U.S. government ID card, an Alabama driver's license, condoms, and an unopened Viagra-like product called Blue Chew.
According to the police report, when Head was detained, he denied being in Longview at the request of an underage girl. Instead, he claimed to have been there for a Halloween party that was organized through an adult-oriented social networking dating site.
The Net Nanny operation led to the arrest of 15 men, including one from Longview and another from Kelso. The remaining suspects came from across the Pacific Northwest with the intention of meeting underage girls.
