Rapid City Man Sentenced to 11 Years in Federal Prison for Attempted Enticement of a Minor

RAPID CITY - United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced today that U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler has sentenced a Rapid City, South Dakota, man convicted of Attempted Enticement of a Minor. The sentencing took place on May 18, 2026.

Jayson "Javi" Gomez, 31, was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $95 in restitution and $100 in special assessments to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Forfeiture was also ordered.

Gomez was indicted for the charge by a federal grand jury in August 2025. He pleaded guilty on February 13, 2026.

On August 5, 2025, during the 2025 Sturgis Bike Rally, Gomez initiated communications on MeetMe with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl. The girl, in fact, was a Rapid City Police Detective operating in an undercover capacity on the Internet-based application, MeetMe, used for dating and "hookups." Gomez gave his cell number to the undercover persona and started communicating with her through texting. Gomez told her that they would have "Netflix and chill moments," which is a slang term for having sexual intercourse while watching a movie. Gomez and the undercover persona made arrangements for him to pick her up at a predetermined location. When Gomez showed up at the location, he was arrested. Ultimately, Gomez admitted he intended to, and would have had, sex with the 14-year-old girl had she been a real person.

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 the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the DOJ's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

This case was investigated by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation's Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the Rapid City Police Department, and the Pennington County Sheriff's Office. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Knox prosecuted the case.

Gomez was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.