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ST. GEORGE — A Washington County man has admitted to moving from Michigan to Utah and using Facebook in an attempt to entice an underage girl from Hildale to have sex with him, according to court documents.
Sean Timothy O’Neill, of Hurricane, pleaded guilty on April 17 in U.S. District Court in St. George to attempted enticement of a minor and possession of child pornography, court documents show.
O’Neill, 49, has been living in Utah since November 2016. He was originally arrested in January 2018, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.
O’Neill admitted to communicating with the girl, who was then 17, over social media between April 2015 and October 2017. He knew that the girl was under 18, according to the plea agreement.
He also bought a home in Hurricane and brought the girl there in December 2017. When there, the girl told police that she did not want to have sex with him but felt like she couldn’t say no, according to charging documents.
Shuttle service owner charged in one case faces 21 new felonies
The owner of a southern Utah shuttle service, a registered sex offender out of Michigan, who already faces charges of unlawful sexual contact with a 17-year-old girl, now faces 21 additional felonies.O’Neill also admitted to possessing an electronic device that had sexually explicit images, as well as three explicit videos of prepubescent children, according to the plea agreement.
Police found hundreds of images of pornography on O’Neill’s computer after they served a search warrant at his home, according to charging documents. The images also depicted sexual abuse of the children, the plea agreement states.
His sentencing is set for Aug. 20. He will serve a minimum sentence of 10 years, as well as a minimum of five years under supervision after his release, the plea agreement states.
