California Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Sexually Exploiting a Minor

A California man was sentenced in the Eastern District of Virginia today to 10 years in prison and 30 years supervised release for enticing a 12-year-old child from Prince William County to engage in unlawful sexual activity. He was also ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution.

Cash Taylor Dalton, 30, of Morro Bay, California, pleaded guilty on Jan. 16 to enticement of a minor. According to court documents, FBI agents began investigating Dalton after the child victim’s parents discovered communications on their daughter’s cellphone between their daughter and Dalton. The investigation revealed that Dalton and the victim had been communicating for approximately three months, and that he had sent her sexually explicit images of himself and extremely graphic sexual messages via text and email, including messages directing her to engage in sexual activity and directing her to record herself engaging in sexual activity and send those recordings to him. Dalton and the victim also discussed meeting in person in order to have sex. In November 2024, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Dalton’s home and recovered evidence of Dalton’s communications with the victim, as well as with three other children who were under the age of 16.

Trial Attorney Nadia Prinz of the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alessandra Serano for the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the 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 www.justice.gov/psc.