Buckley Man Convicted For Attempting To Entice A Minor

BUCKLEY, WA — A former Buckley, Washington resident will be spending a decade or more behind bars after he was found guilty of trying to have sex with a minor.

The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that a jury had voted to convict 34-year-old Taylor J. Matson with attempted enticement of a minor. Matson was first arrested in February 2019, captured as part of an undercover sting operation by the Seattle Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children task force.

According to the DOJ, prosecutors presented records and testimony to the jury showing how SPD found Matson by posting a want ad online which implied it was offering sex with young children. The detectives pretended to be a mother of three young children and hinted her children "would be made available for sex with adults," the DOJ said.

After finding the ad, Matson contacted the deputies and sent text messages which, prosecutors said, made clear that he wanted to assault the mother's fictitious 12-year-old daughter. Matson then met an undercover detective posing as the mother at a bar, and even submitted to the detective's requests that he be tested for STDs and buy condoms before meeting the child.

On February 9, Matson went to a hotel in south Seattle for a scheduled meeting, where prosecutors say he believed he would have sex with the young girl. Instead, police arrested him as he walked in the door.

Matson's trial lasted three days, but prosecutors say it took the jury just three hours of deliberation to declare him guilty, and he was convicted late Friday, Oct. 8.

A conviction for enticement of a minor carries a mandatory minimum 10 years in prison, but can result in anything up to a life sentence. Matson's sentencing has been scheduled for January 25, 2022. Before then, the DOJ says U.S. District Judge James L. Robart will review his case and sentencing guidelines to determine an appropriate sentence.