A 61-year-old man was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Tuesday for attempting to pay for sex with a 14-year-old girl in 2022, when he was a registered sex offender, prosecutors said.
David Cannon, of Lexington, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted sex trafficking of a child and one count of possession of child pornography in federal court in November 2023, acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua S. Levy’s office said in a statement.
In November 2022, Cannon responded to an advertisement online offering sex with two young girls, according to the statement. In an ensuing text conversation with an undercover agent acting as the seller, Cannon offered to pay $200 to have sex with either a 12-year-old or 14-year-old girl and “indicated that he would purchase whoever was ready first.” He agreed to pay $200 to have sex with the 14-year-old, prosecutors said.
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Cannon then arrived at a hotel in greater Boston where he met with the agent, still posing as the seller. At the hotel, he confirmed he had the money and accepted a hotel key, according to prosecutors. Cannon also said to tell the child to “expect a man who looks like Santa Claus.”
“Lubricant and condoms were subsequently found in Cannon’s vehicle,” the statement said.
Investigators searched Cannon’s cell phone, where they found child sexual abuse material and text messages “discussing his affinity” for the material. Cannon was ordered to pay $17,500 in restitution to those depicted in the material, according to the statement.
At the time, Cannon was a registered sex offender and had been convicted in 2019 of indecent assault of an 11-year-old child on three different occasions.
“Those who seek to pay for sex with kids must be seriously punished so that the message resonates that there are grave consequences for engaging in such deplorable conduct,” Levy said in the statement.
Prosecutors encouraged anyone who may be impacted or experiencing commercial sex trafficking to contact USAMA.VictimAssistance@usdoj.gov.