United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that a
Glendale, Arizona, man convicted of
Attempted Receipt of Child Pornography was sentenced on July 2, 2019, by Chief
Judge Jeffrey L. Viken, U.S. District Court.
Walter Curaba, age 49, was sentenced to 5 years in federal
prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a
$100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Curaba was one of five men who were arrested and federally
indicted as a result of an undercover sex trafficking operation conducted
during the 2014 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, targeting persons willing to pay to
have sex with underage girls obtained through the Internet. All five men were
indicted for Commercial Sex Trafficking.
The conviction stemmed from Curaba responding to a
Craigslist.com advertisement posted by Division of Criminal Investigation
undercover agents, which purported to offer young girls for sex. Following
several messages with a person Curaba believed to be associated with a
12-year-old girl, but who was in fact an undercover agent, he proceeded to
negotiate the time and place they would meet, along with the price he would
pay, which was $250.
The undercover operation and arrests were a joint effort
between the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the Department of
Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Rapid City Police
Department, and the Pennington County Sheriff’s office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Collins
prosecuted the case.
Curaba was immediately turned over to the custody of the
U.S. Marshals Service.
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