An Oklahoma man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Springfield to attempting to entice via the Internet someone whom he believed to a be a 13-year-old girl and to crossing state lines to have illicit sex with her.
Robert Dean Graef, 29, of Tulsa, pleaded guilty to the charges in U.S. District Court in Springfield. Graef was indicted in May following an investigation by a cyber crimes detective with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department.
Between April 13 and April 17 of this year, Graef engaged in online chats with the detective, who was posing as a 13-year-old girl and made arrangements to meet her at a cemetery in Carthage on April 17, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Missouri. He was arrested when he arrived at a crypt in the cemetery where the meeting was to take place.
Graef was wearing a pistol holster and had a .40-caliber magazine in his pocket when he was arrested. A search of his vehicle turned up a loaded .40-caliber pistol with a laser sight. Officers also found duct tape, zip ties, a pair of handcuffs, two magazines of .40-caliber rounds and 50 rounds of .45-caliber ammunition in the vehicle.
Graef faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison without parole or up to life in prison without parole and a fine up to $500,000. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled in federal court following a pre-sentence investigation.
