A man was sentenced to more than 15 years in federal prison after prosecutors say he chatted with an underage girl on social media for months, then abducted and sexually abused her.

Deven Richard Dearing met the girl in June 2020 on a chat website called Omegle and then continued chatting with her on Instagram, according to a Jan 5 news release from the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon.

Over months, the then-23-year-old man engaged in “extensive, sexually explicit exchanges” with the girl, who he knew was a minor, and got her to send him “sexually explicit” photos and videos, the release says.

On Aug 20, 2020, Dearing drove more than 600 miles from his home near Sacramento, California, to the girl’s home in Oregon, the release says. While on his way, he came up with a plan to disable her phone’s SIM card so she couldn’t be tracked, according to the release.

Dearing’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.

After picking the girl up at her house, he took her to a hotel in Oregon where he sexually abused her, and later brought her to California where he continued to abuse her for more than a week, the release says.

During the time the girl was missing, investigators began looking into her disappearance and found the social media messages between her and Dearing, according to the release. On Aug 29, 2020, FBI agents interviewed Dearing about his contact with the girl.

That same day, the girl walked into the Merced County Sheriff’s Office in Merced, California, about 115 miles south of Sacramento, and told police that she’d run away from home, the release says.

Detectives later found out that Dearing had agreed to drop the girl off at the police station and told her to lie about running away from home, according to the US Attorney’s Office.

On April 15, 2021, a grand jury in Eugene, Oregon, indicted Dearing on charges of “sexual exploitation of a child, transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and receipt of child pornography,” the release says. He pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child and transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity on Sept 15, 2022, the release says.

On Jan 5, Dearing, who is now 26, was sentenced to 187 months in federal prison and a “life term of supervised release,” according to the US Attorney’s Office.

 - TNS