An Olympia man has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the 2023 Net Nanny sting operation in Longview, which resulted in the arrest of 15 men across Washington state.
Justin Michael Gardner, 39, of Olympia, has entered into a plea agreement with Cowlitz County prosecutors. In exchange for pleading guilty to two counts of third-degree rape of a child, he could be sentenced between two years and two months to nearly three years in state prison.
His sentencing hearing is set for Aug 5. at the Cowlitz County Jail courtroom.
Based on the police report, Gardner was apprehended on Oct. 28, 2023, after traveling from Tumwater to Cowlitz County to meet someone he believed to be an adult woman, who was offering her two children for sex. However, the individual turned out to be an undercover police officer from the Spokane Police Department, as part of a sting operation that included multiple law enforcement agencies.
As stated in the report, Gardner meet the undercover cop on social media app known "as a hook-up site."
After meeting the undercover cop at a brewery, he agreed to purchase condoms and other items for the rendezvous.
When he was arrested, law enforcement found 10 condoms, lube and Sour Patch Kids candy, all of which were taken into evidence, the police report states.
