No Prison Time for MySpace Predator

MySpace predator escapes with probation and community service

A man who posed as a 19-year-old UCLA art student to get a teenager to send him nude images of herself pleaded guilty Friday to 29 felonies and was sentenced to five years probation and 960 hours of community service.

Kevin Dale Pierce, 36, of Los Angeles must also register as a sex offender, according to court records.

He pleaded guilty to two counts each of annoying or molesting a child under 18 years old and communicating with a minor with the intent to commit a specified offense and 25 counts of bringing into the state matter depicting a child sexually.

Riverside Superior Court Judge Mark Mandio gave the defendant probation over the objection of prosecutor Burke Strunsky.

"We believed it was a case deserving of prison," the prosecutor said outside court.

In January 2007, a woman reported that her 14-year-old daughter was swapping notes with someone who claimed to be a 19-year-old college student studying art.

She told police that "kev pie" sent her daughter e-mails, asking for images in specific poses, such as on her knees on the floor or with her legs apart, according to an affidavit for a search warrant.

Local

Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.

Dodgers home opener overshadowed by Shohei Ohtani interpreter scandal

Convicted killer who left Santa Ana halfway house is in custody

The two connected via MySpace.com in November 2006, with Pierce using the moniker "Cali_K," said Temecula police Sgt. Bill DeLuna.

The defendant sent messages to the girl via Internet Relay Chat, eventually asking her if she would take photos of herself and send them to him so he could draw her for an art class, the sergeant said.

The girl wore a bikini at first, thought Pierce persuaded her to send him nude images later, investigators said.

Copyright CNS - City News Service
Contact Us