PEORIA, Ariz. — A California man pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges regarding traveling with a teen runaway from Arizona and engaging in criminal sexual activity with her.
According to a news release from the United States Department of Justice, 33-year-old Trevon Langstaff pleaded guilty to one count of traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
He allegedly traveled with a 14-year-old girl who ran away from home — whom Langstaff met in a Reddit internet forum, according to the release — across state lines to his apartment where he engaged in criminal sexual activity with her.
“Every day, sexual predators use the internet’s relative anonymity to prey on vulnerable youth,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “Would-be predators should be aware that my office will use all of its tools to bring them to justice, and, as today’s sentence shows, the consequences will be severe.”
According to Langstaff's plea agreement, he drove from his Long Beach home to Peoria in March of 2024 to pick up the victim and instructed her to pretend to be 18 years old. He then engaged in sexual intercourse with the victim at his Long Beach home, the release states.
Law enforcement found an image that appeared to portray two children engaged in sexually explicit activity on Langstaff's cellphone, which was seized on March 26.
United States District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha scheduled a March 7, 2025, sentencing hearing, at which time Langstaff will face a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison. Langstaff has been in federal custody since March 27.
The FBI and the Long Beach Police Department investigated this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Kathrynne N. Seiden of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.
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