FRESNO - Christopher Contreras, 29, of Fresno, pleaded guilty today to one count of attempted coercion of a minor and one count of enticement of a minor, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Contreras used the messaging application Skout, text messages, and Snapchat to engage in sexually explicit communications for approximately one week with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old female. He then traveled to a location in Fresno on July 31, 2020, to meet the purported minor for sexual activity. He was actually communicating with undercover law enforcement investigators. They arrested Contreras and booked him into the Fresno County Jail, where he was released on bail.

On Oct. 13, 2020, law enforcement officers responded to a call about a missing juvenile. An investigation confirmed that Contreras picked the juvenile up at a location in Fresno after making arrangements through messages on the Meet Me application. Contreras was arrested for numerous felony violations of California law and booked again at the Fresno County Jail. He was later charged federally in this case and has been in federal custody since June 10, 2021.

Contreras is scheduled to be sentenced on April 1, 2024. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and up to a life term of supervised release for each of the two counts. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after considering any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which consider several variables.