Paul Joseph Espinosa, a 56-year-old man, has been sentenced to over a decade in prison for attempting to coerce a minor online.
Espinosa received a sentence of 11 years and three months, to be followed by a decade of supervised release, for his attempt to coerce a child via the internet, as announced by U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert. The conviction stems from Espinosa’s interaction with an undercover agent posing as a 15-year-old on Instagram in May 2021, where he pursued explicit images and suggested meetings for sexual activities.
Despite being informed the Instagram profile belonged to a purported 15-year-old, Espinosa escalated the interactions by sending sexually explicit images and repeatedly suggesting they meet. His arrest occurred on June 26, 2021, when he attempted to meet the supposed victim in Fresno for sexual activities. Espinosa’s guilty plea was entered on September 25, 2023.