Tri-Cities man caught in ‘Net Nanny’ sex attack didn’t learn lesson the first time

A Kennewick man who traveled to Yakima to have sex with 11- and 13-year-old girls was sentenced this week to 13 years in federal prison.

A jury found David Elmo Curry, 28, guilty in December of two counts of attempted enticement of a minor after he borrowed a car from his girlfriend in November 2019 to drive the 90 miles.

He lied to his girlfriend about why he was going to Yakima and took sexual objects with him.

There, he was caught in a “Net Nanny” operation by the Washington State Patrol’s Missing and Exploited Children Task Force. Detectives posing as parents offered to allow sex with their fictitious children, leading to the arrest of 16 men.

Curry was the only Tri-Cities area suspect arrested in the operation, which was similar to a previous Tri-Cities Net Nanny operation. He moved to Clarkston, Washington, before his conviction.

Curry had responded to an ad posted on Craigslist and contacted an undercover agent who identified herself as a mother. Federal prosecutors said their text and email exchanges included the mother’s alleged interest in finding a man to have sex with her children.

After Curry went to the Yakima home where they agreed to meet, the undercover agent said she was going to pick up the children. That’s when Curry learned he’d been caught up in a WSP case.

The month after he was released on bail in that case, he placed an adult ad and began chatting with an officer from the Homeland Security Investigations Task Force, who responded as a 13-year-old girl.

He exchanged hundreds of text messages and emails with her, including asking for nude photos of her and sending nude images of himself, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Murphy in court documents.

The day before their planned date, Curry purchased sex items again. His attorney Craig Webster of Yakima said his client interrupted the conversation and the meeting never happened.

Webster argued that in both cases his client was seeking to have a sexual relationship with an adult woman and that there was no evidence that Curry ever acted on his fantasies.

His attorney said in court documents that Curry has since been diagnosed with autism and was easily exploited by others.

The defense argued for a 10-year prison sentence for the crimes he was convicted of. Prosecutors asked for 25 years.

The 13-year prison sentence handed down this week by U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Bastian at the federal courthouse in Yakima will be followed by 10 years of probation.

“Predators like Mr. Curry are motivated to target their victims through mouse clicks and keystrokes, and any punishment punishing his evil actions is an important step in ensuring that cyberspace remains free of those who seek to exploit children ” said Robert Hammer, the special manager. agent charged with overseeing homeland security investigations in the North West, following conviction.

The case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative launched in 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.