This ex-Hanford worker wanted to be a ‘secret love teacher’ for 2 kids

A 71-year-old Pasco man who was one of the first nabbed in last summer’s online child sex sting claims he was on Craigslist to find a woman to have sex and picked the wrong ad.

Still, Douglas V. Arbogast said he takes full responsibility for his actions and needs to be held accountable for trying to meet up with an 11-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy in Richland.

“I have hurt my immediate and extended family, and I have brought shame on myself that will be difficult to overcome,” he said, choking back tears at his sentencing this week. “I have done a lot of soul searching and praying. ... I am ready to complete that step (with prison) and move on with my life.”

Arbogast was convicted in June by a Benton County jury of one count each of attempted first- and second-degree child rape.

This week, Superior Court Judge Cameron Mitchell sentenced the former Hanford instrument technician to a mandatory minimum of 7 1/2 years in prison.

Mitchell continued to reject defense arguments that Arbogast was entrapped by law enforcement in the Tri-Cities “Net Nanny Operation.”

While the online posting and initial emails were “somewhat ambiguous” as to whether the meet-up would involve sex with children or their “mother,” it became abundantly clear in followup messages that’s what was being proposed, said Mitchell.

Arbogast went to the apartment that night as instructed and was arrested by undercover detectives, telling them that “age is just a number.”

“It’s important, at least in this court’s mind, there were a number of occasions where the officer attempted to disengage Mr. Arbogast and to, I guess, give him the opportunity to not be involved in this situation,” Mitchell said. “And on each occasion, Mr. Arbogast re-engaged even after being told this was likely not for him, thank you for not wasting my time, things of that nature.”

“It was his decision to re-engage knowing clearly that this involved an offer of sex with an 11-year-old and a 13-year-old minor,” he added. “I’m not persuaded that Mr. Arbogast was induced, or improperly induced, by the ad or by the conversation to engage in this behavior. This was his choice.”

Twenty-six men were swept up in the five-day operation, which was led by the Washington State Patrol’s Missing and Exploited Children Task Force. It targeted online predators who used various websites in an effort to have sex with children.

Undercover officers either answered advertisements that already existed online or posted new ones claiming to be kids as young as 11 or parents who were offering their children for sex.

A handful of defendants have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury in the last several months.

Kyle R. Sickels, 26, entered a guilty plea Wednesday to attempted second-degree child rape. He was taken into custody following the plea, and faces a nearly five-year prison term at sentencing in late August.

Sickels of Kennewick answered an ad for a 13-year-old girl looking for an “older daddy” and offered up his home for them to get together and party, court documents said.

He gave his phone number and said he wanted to have sex with the girl and her friend, then watch the two of them together, documents said. He brought alcohol to the meet-up.

In Arbogast’s case, undercover detectives were still setting up the operation on July 5, 2017, when he responded to a posting titled, “Mommy likes to watch — young family fun.”

Deputy Prosecutor Diana Ruff said Arbogast was not “the victim of some nefarious government plot to ensnare him.”

“No one forced him on that day to get on Craigslist. No one forced him to keep talking to (the mother) about having sex with her kids,” she said. “He wanted to be a secret love teacher for the children” and said he would be gentle with them.

She recommended a 10-year sentence at the top of the standard range, saying the defense’s request for three years would be a slap on the wrist, especially when other defendants are getting more time than that for admitting their actions.

Adam Pechtel argued that a number of factors support leniency for his client: his advanced age; medical issues; lack of a criminal record; and service to the country in the Navy during Vietnam.

The attorney also pointed out that Arbogast has the full support of family and friends who will help him out after his release from prison.

Judge Mitchell said a three-year sentence below the standard range is not reasonable given the nature of the crime, even if there was no actual child involved.

Once Arbogast serves the 7 1/2 years, he will go before a state review board which could decide to keep him locked up for the rest of his life.