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Updated: Monday, Jan. 5, 2004 - 6:21 PM
BALTIMORE - A federal judge sentenced a New Jersey man to 27 months in prison Monday for soliciting sex on the Internet from a state trooper who posed as a 15-year-old girl in a sting operation.
The case against Donald Taylor Jr. was prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department after Maryland courts rejected it.
Judge Marvin Garbis ordered Taylor to one year of supervised release. Taylor, 48, also must register as a sex offender.
"I'm trying to rehabilitate myself," Taylor told the judge before sentencing.
Taylor pleaded guilty in September to solicitation of a minor for unlawful sexual conduct online. He must surrender to authorities Feb. 11.
Taylor was charged in October 1999 with attempted third-degree sex offense involving a minor and solicitation of a minor for unlawful sexual conduct online. He was arrested after he drove to Frederick, allegedly for sex with an Internet correspondent he believed to be an underage girl.
Frederick County Circuit Judge Mary Ann Stepler dismissed the case in August 2000, agreeing with public defender Stephen Harris that it was legally impossible for Taylor to commit the crimes with an adult. The state appealed to Maryland's highest court, the Court of Appeals, which ruled in a 4-3 opinion that Taylor had been acquitted and could not be tried again.
The ruling didn't address the legality of the Internet sting.
Frederick State's Attorney Scott Rolle and then-Maryland State Police Superintendent Col. David B. Mitchell asked the Justice Department to adopt the case.
U.S. Attorney Thomas DiBiagio charged Taylor in March with crossing state lines with intent to engage in sexual activity with a minor and using an interstate commerce facility - the Internet - to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity.
In May 2000, Taylor received an 18-month sentence for a third-degree sex offense in St. Mary's County. Taylor's attorney, Beth Farber, said her client has been attending outpatient therapy.
"He certainly got a full and adequate sentence," she said Monday.
Andrew Norman, an assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case, declined to comment.
Taylor had been released from custody and confined to his mother's house in Palmyra, N.J. He was also ordered to undergo counseling and prohibited from using computers or the Internet or having contact with anyone under 18 unless in the presence of his parents.
BALTIMORE - A federal judge sentenced a New Jersey man to 27 months in prison Monday for soliciting sex on the Internet from a state trooper who posed as a 15-year-old girl in a sting operation.
The case against Donald Taylor Jr. was prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department after Maryland courts rejected it.
Judge Marvin Garbis ordered Taylor to one year of supervised release. Taylor, 48, also must register as a sex offender.
"I'm trying to rehabilitate myself," Taylor told the judge before sentencing.
Taylor pleaded guilty in September to solicitation of a minor for unlawful sexual conduct online. He must surrender to authorities Feb. 11.
Taylor was charged in October 1999 with attempted third-degree sex offense involving a minor and solicitation of a minor for unlawful sexual conduct online. He was arrested after he drove to Frederick, allegedly for sex with an Internet correspondent he believed to be an underage girl.
Frederick County Circuit Judge Mary Ann Stepler dismissed the case in August 2000, agreeing with public defender Stephen Harris that it was legally impossible for Taylor to commit the crimes with an adult. The state appealed to Maryland's highest court, the Court of Appeals, which ruled in a 4-3 opinion that Taylor had been acquitted and could not be tried again.
The ruling didn't address the legality of the Internet sting.
Frederick State's Attorney Scott Rolle and then-Maryland State Police Superintendent Col. David B. Mitchell asked the Justice Department to adopt the case.
U.S. Attorney Thomas DiBiagio charged Taylor in March with crossing state lines with intent to engage in sexual activity with a minor and using an interstate commerce facility - the Internet - to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity.
In May 2000, Taylor received an 18-month sentence for a third-degree sex offense in St. Mary's County. Taylor's attorney, Beth Farber, said her client has been attending outpatient therapy.
"He certainly got a full and adequate sentence," she said Monday.
Andrew Norman, an assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case, declined to comment.
Taylor had been released from custody and confined to his mother's house in Palmyra, N.J. He was also ordered to undergo counseling and prohibited from using computers or the Internet or having contact with anyone under 18 unless in the presence of his parents.
