He sent a phone to a Richland girl and said it came with a cost. Now, he’s paying the price

A 77-year-old old man has admitted driving from Spokane to Richland to collect on a debt from a 13-year-old girl he met online.

Robert C. Fischbach sent a cellphone to the girl during their two-month text exchange and said it came with a cost, according to court documents.

On April 4 — after giving an excuse to his wife for the out-of-town trip — Fischbach drove 150 miles to “hook up” with the girl, documents show. He came prepared with a pill believed to be Viagra.

What Fischbach didn’t prepare for were the police officers waiting for him at their meeting spot.

Fischbach pleaded guilty recently in Benton County Superior Court to attempted second-degree child rape. A second charge for communicating with a minor for immoral purposes was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

5-year minimum sentence

Deputy Prosecutor Laurel Holland said in the dismissal motion that the “resolution appropriately addresses (Fischbach’s) conduct in this particular matter” since his arrest involved undercover officers posing as a child.

Fischbach faces a minimum prison sentence of about five to six years.

Holland said she will recommend the 4-year, 10-month term at his sentencing, which currently is set for June 26. She also wants Fischbach to get a sex offender evaluation and follow the recommended treatment.

The attempted rape carries a mandatory maximum life term. That means it will be up to a state review board to ultimately determine when Fischbach is ready to be released based on his behavior and treatment while behind bars.

He now is being held without bail since he was convicted of a sex crime.

Caught in undercover operation

Fischbach responded to an online post made in early February by a detective with the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

The detective — working an undercover operation in Post Falls, Idaho — was pretending to be an underage girl looking for someone to treat her as an adult.

Fischbach chatted with the girl for nearly two months, first on a social media app and then through text messages.

Even after the detective made it clear the girl was 13, Fischbach continued to ask if the girl was a virgin, as well as talk about making love and giving sensual massages, court documents show.

He shared links to two adult pornography sites, expressed that he was fearful of going to jail and eventually sent a cellphone as a gift so the girl’s parents couldn’t see their chats, documents said.

Once plans were in motion to make the two-hour drive to the Tri-Cities, Fischbach reportedly said he had to give a reason for the trip to his wife because she sometimes “is looking over my shoulder.”

Online court records show that Fischbach’s wife filed for divorce and sought a temporary restraining order three weeks after his arrest.