Boise Man Sentenced for Trying to Entice Minor on Website

BOISE, Idaho – A Boise man has been sentenced to five years in prison and five years of supervised released for attempting to entice a minor through a dating website, according to a U.S. attorney.

Mark William Sharp, 42, was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court for "attempted use of interstate facilities to transmit information about a minor," U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis said in a news release on Thursday.

According to the news release, court records show that Sharp posted an advertisement on a dating website in November 2018 seeking sexual contact, writing that “age and status” did not matter.

A detective with the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children task force, posing as a 14-year-old girl, responded to the ad. During online communications with the detective, Sharp sent messages attempting to entice the person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl to meet him for sex.  Sharp also asked the 14-year-old to send him a picture of herself in underwear. Later, the detective agreed to meet Sharp for sex, giving him an address to meet at. Sharp arrived at the location and was arrested.

Besides going to prison for his crimes, Sharp, who pleaded guilty on March 11, will be required to register as a sex offender.