A Morgantown man accused of not updating his sex offender registration and then traveling to Mexico to allegedly purchase a 7-year-old girl has pleaded guilty to failing to update his registration as a convicted sex offender, U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld announced Friday in a press release.
Scott David Bixler, 43, of Morgantown, who is a convicted sex offender, traveled outside of the country last August without notifying the West Virginia State Police — a requirement of his sex-offender status.
Bixler was then arrested in Mexico, where investigators determined that he attempted to purchase a 7-year-old girl for $5,000 cash.
According to court records and information from Ihlenfeld’s office, when he was arrested by Mexican authorities, Bixler was in possession of two tranquilizer air guns, methamphetamine, a cell phone jammer, and the cash to purchase the child.
“It should be a relief to everyone, especially to parents of young children, knowing that someone as dangerous as Scott Bixler has been convicted and will be locked up for a long time,” said U.S. Attorney Ihlenfeld. “I’m grateful for the work of law enforcement to apprehend Bixler and bring him to justice.”
By pleading guilty, Bixler faces up to 10 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine his sentence at a later date.
It is unclear what charges, if any, Bixler could still be facing in Mexico.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Services, and the West Virginia State Police.
The press release said this case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.
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