HALLOCK, Minn.-A West Fargo man will avoid jail time for trying to use Craigslist to solicit a minor for sex, with plans of marrying her in Montana.
Chad Brian Peterson, 40, was sentenced Monday in Kittson County District Court to 52 days in jail, which he already has served. The sentence comes after he pleaded guilty to two felony counts of electronic solicitation of children.
Peterson was arrested March 23 in Hallock after answering a Craigslist ad and soliciting sex from a girl he thought to be 14 years old, according to court documents. He discussed through texts having a secret relationship with the teen and then moving to Montana to marry her when she turned 16, the court documents said.
The texts also described sexual acts.
When Peterson drove to meet the teen in Hallock, he was arrested. A Kittson County Sheriff's deputy had been posing as the underage teen.
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Peterson also was charged with a third electronic solicitation count and driving while impaired, but those two charges were dismissed pursuant to a plea agreement.
