FORT SMITH (KFSM) — A Mena man was sentenced Wednesday (Nov. 14) to more than 11 years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for trying to meet a 14-year-old boy for sex.
Kevin Dehart pleaded guilty in July in U.S. District Court to one count of attempted online enticement of a minor.
Dehart, 53, was arrested in July 2017 during an undercover investigation into the online enticement of minors for sex in the Mena area, according to court records.
Authorities posed as a 14-year-old boy online and exchanged messages with Dehart, who said he’d like to have sex with the boy.
Dehart then made plans to meet the teen for sex. Police set up a location to meet and arrested Dehart when he arrived.
Mena police and the U.S. Secret Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. attorney Dustin Roberts prosecuted the case.
