Las Vegas man pleads guilty to attempted sex trafficking of child
A Las Vegas man has pleaded guilty in connection with an internet sex trafficking sting — for the second time in four years.
James Allen Wynhoff, 40, appeared before U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware on Thursday and entered the guilty plea to attempted sex trafficking of a child and possession of child pornography. His plea agreement states that child porn was found stored on his Kik messaging account.
According to a criminal complaint filed in April in the case, Wynhoff began communicating online with a Las Vegas police detective posing as a 15-year-old girl. The detective was part of a federal task force that targets sex traffickers, particularly those using the internet.
The complaint alleges that Wynhoff sent messages to the “decoy” talking about sex and making comments like “I love teens.”
When the detective posing as the girl mentioned being nervous about getting pregnant, the complaint alleges, “Wynhoff told the decoy that he would get her Plan B (an emergency contraceptive pill) and explained to the decoy that Plan B was birth control.”
At some point, according to court records, Wynhoff offered $100 for sex and agreed to meet the decoy at a spot in North Las Vegas.
This is the second time Wynhoff has been charged federally for crimes involving use of the internet to meet a child for sex. In 2018, Wynhoff was arrested by police in Utah when he allegedly traveled to the Hurricane area to meet someone he thought was a teen he had communicated with online. The teen was actually a Davis County Sheriff’s Office detective.
Wynhoff was sentenced to 48 months in prison in that case. He was released less than a year ago, on Jan. 18, according to federal Bureau of Prisons records.
A 2019 news release from the Utah attorney general’s office states that Wynhoff was required to undergo a court-ordered sex offender treatment program while incarcerated.
Wynhoff was on supervised released for his convictions in the Utah case when he was arrested in Nevada.
He faces up to lifetime imprisonment and a $250,000 fine for his current charges. He is set to be sentenced on Jan. 9.
Wynhoff was jailed when arrested and remains in custody.
Contact Glen A. Meek at gmeek@reviewjournal.com or 602-380-8951. Follow @GlenMeekLV on Twitter.