Buhl man must register as sex offender after conviction

BOISE, Idaho – Larry James Cline, 31, of Buhl, Idaho, was sentenced on Nov. 19, 2019 in U.S. District Court to 60 months in federal prison followed by five years’ supervised release, for attempted use of interstate facilities to transmit information about a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Cline pleaded guilty on August 22, 2019.

According to court records, on April 6, 2019, Cline responded to a post on an anonymous social media and chat application posted by an undercover officer posing as a thirteen-year-old girl. During the communications, Cline requested pictures of the minor and her address, and described sex acts he wanted to engage in with the minor. The undercover officer gave Cline an address, which he traveled to, resulting in his arrest.

At sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill also ordered Cline to forfeit the cellular phone he used in the commission of the offense. As a result of his conviction, Cline will be required to register as a sex offender.

The investigation was part of “Operation Snake Byte,” a joint state and federal undercover operation conducted in Twin Falls County, Idaho in April 2019 to identify individuals predisposed to meet minors for sexual contact.

Participating agencies included ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Twin Falls Police Department, Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office, Twin Falls County Probation Office, Idaho State Police, United States Postal Inspection Service, Rupert Police Department, Jerome County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho Criminal Intelligence Center, Twin Falls County Prosecutor’s Office, and United States Attorney’s Office.

Cline is the last of four defendants charged in federal court as a result of Operation Snake Byte to be sentenced. Previously, the following defendants were sentenced in federal court as a result of Operation Snake Byte:

• Yabet Arizmendi-Sanchez, 33, of Buhl, was sentenced by Judge Winmill to 60 months imprisonment, followed by 5 years of supervised release, for attempted use of interstate facilities to transmit information about a minor on October 10, 2019.
• Andrew Wayne Jackson, 52, of Meridian, was sentenced by Judge Winmill to 60 months imprisonment, followed by 5 years of supervised release, for attempted use of interstate facilities to transmit information about a minor on November 5, 2019.
• James Cory Koyle, 41, of Burley, was sentenced by Judge Winmill to 120 months imprisonment, followed by 5 years of supervised release, for attempted coercion and enticement of a minor on November 7, 2019.

These cases were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE; TTY for hearing impaired: (802) 872-6196. This hotline is staffed around-the-clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may also be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.