A man accused of transferring a minor across state lines in June 2023 with intent to sexually exploit her was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison.

James Wendell Dean, 54, Boulder, was sentenced to 188 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of transportation of a minor across state lines with intent to engage in sexually explicit conduct with the minor, according to Tuesday’s press release from the United States Attorney’s Office.

“Crimes against children are the most despicable in our society,” said United States Attorney Matt Kirsch. “Our office will aggressively prosecute anyone who harms a minor.”

The FBI Denver field office handled the investigation, and Assistant United States Attorney Alison Connaughty handled the prosecution, according to the release.

“This sentence serves as a reminder that protecting children from predators is a top priority for the FBI,” said Mark Michalek, FBI Denver special agent in charge. “We will continue to support victims of child sexual exploitation and work with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable those who prey upon children.

The minor began spending time with Dean and his son at Dean’s home in Boulder between 2020 and 2022, according to court documents. The girl met Dean because she and his son attended school together, and she frequently slept over at Dean’s residence and kept clothing and other personal belongings there.

In April 2022, the girl’s mother obtained a protection order prohibiting Dean from contacting the minor. However, on May 11, 2022, the Boulder County Court vacated that protective order and hours later, the girl’s mother reported her missing, according to court documents.

That evening, police searched Dean’s home in the 5100 block of Santa Clara Place but did not find the girl. Instead, “she was hiding under Mr. Dean’s son’s bed, Mr. Dean knew she was in the home and lied to the police by telling them he did not know where she was,” according to court documents.

The following day, police returned to Dean’s home and found the girl hiding in the same location, leading to Dean’s arrest.

On September 6, 2022, Dean pleaded guilty in Boulder District Court to violation of a custody order and harboring a minor. He was later sentenced to two years of probation.

The court ordered that as long as Dean did not reside in Colorado, the probation term would be unsupervised and “as part of his probation, regardless of where he lived, (Dean) was ordered to have no contact with the minor in this case,” according to court documents.

Dean moved to Youngtown, Arizona, in November 2022. Dean and the girl reportedly exchanged sexually explicit images and videos over Discord, a video conferencing application, according to court documents.

Discord chats later revealed information about a plan for another person to drive the girl to Dean’s home in Arizona. On June 2, 2023, Dean “paid the acquaintance $40 through a digital payment phone application as the start of a series of payments to drive the minor to Arizona,” according to court documents.

On June 16, 2023, Dean paid the acquaintance an additional $50. The acquaintance showed up to the girl’s home on June 17, 2023, but her grandfather wouldn’t allow her to leave the home. A plane ticket was purchased with Dean’s credit card on June 18, 2023, with Dean listed as the girl’s parent. The girl took off from Denver International Airport the next day and was picked up by Dean from the Phoenix airport that night.

Despite law enforcement contacting Dean, and asking him to return to his apartment on June 23, 2023, detectives found both the girl and Dean at Flagstaff Shelter services on June 20, 2023.

Between June 24, 2023 and June 30, 2023, Dean reportedly sent a number of online inquiries to rental apartments on various websites indicating that he was looking for an apartment for he and his wife. The search history on Dean’s cell phone showed a Google search for “if a 16-year-old is on her own can she marry.”

United States District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico presided over the sentencing.