Fairfield Man Admits To Attempting Coerce Child Over Internet, Faces Life In Prison

FAIRFIELD (CBS SF) -- A Fairfield man arrested in an online sting operation pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempted online coercion of a child, according to Department of Justice officials.

Kevin Blaine Cline, 47, faces a minimum of 10 years in prison after he posted on social media about his "freaky sexual desires" back in November of 2019.

"An undercover agent observed Cline's post on the social media platform Whisper that said he was 'Looking for dad's (sic) who love their daughters near me I … Have a question,'" said a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office's Eastern District of California. "The undercover agent, posing as a dad, engaged in a two-day conversation on Whisper with Cline, and Cline sent the agent two images of child pornography. Cline planned a meeting with the 'dad' and 'daughter' in order to sexually molest her."

Agents arrested Cline after he drove from Fairfield to Pleasant Hill under the auspices of meeting a 7-year-old girl.

Cline agreed to plea guilty in an agreement that the DOJ says "contains a description of the sexual activity that Cline wanted to engage in with the seven-year-old girl, as well as sexual acts he planned to perform with a 10-year-old girl in Washington state."

U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller plans to sentence Cline on Oct. 18, 2021. While he faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, the maximum statutory penalty is life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the DOJ to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.