Buckley man convicted after trying to meet with cop posing as 12-year-old girl
A former Buckley resident was convicted Friday of attempting to entice a minor. The man was arrested in 2019 after going to a hotel to meet a Seattle police officer he believed was a 12-year-old girl who would have sex with him.
Taylor Matson, 34, was convicted of attempted enticement of a minor in U.S. District Court. He is to be sentenced Jan. 25. The minimum sentence for enticement of a minor is 10 years in prison. The maximum is life.
Matson was arrested in February 2019 following an undercover investigation by the Seattle Police Department, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. According to the release, Matson responded to an advertisement posted online ostensibly from the mother of three young children. The ad implied the children would be made available for sex with adults.
The advertisement was actually posted by an undercover detective. Through text and online messages, Matson made it clear he wanted to sexually assault the fictitious 12-year-old girl, according to the release.
Matson fulfilled requirements posed by the detective such as obtaining sexually transmitted disease testing and bringing condoms to the scheduled meet-up. According to the release, Matson also met with the undercover detective at a bar to further the plan.
On Feb. 6, Matson went to a hotel in south Seattle where he believed he would have sex with the child, according to the release. He was arrested when he entered the hotel room.
The case, which was investigated by both the Seattle Police Department and the FBI, was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
This story was originally published October 12, 2021 at 2:12 PM.
