OAKLAND — A Rhode Island man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday for sexual online chats with a 13-year-old girl from Contra Costa, which included exchanges of nude photos.
A shocking fact was revealed in court records leading up to the sentence: the victim in the case was found to have had similar conversations with others, including a Washington man who is also being prosecuted in federal court.
In a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Woonsocket, RI resident Jeffrey Provost, 47, was given the 10-year federal prison term in exchange for pleading guilty to child enticement, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Provost had also been charged with two other counts: sending and receiving child porn, but those charges were dismissed in the deal.
The deal also requires Provost to register as a sex offender and spend several years on federal probation after his release.
In addition to the nude photo exchanging, Provost was found to have had graphic conversations with the young girl. When she told him she was turning 14 soon, he responded with, “that calls for birthday sex,” according to prosecutors. Later, when authorities interviewed him, he had an explanation for the conduct.
“I’m an (expletive),” Provost said, using a synonym for “jerk,” according to a prosecution memo. He later said he wanted to apologize to the girl.
Investigators became aware of Provost last year, following a tip from Facebook that he’d been having sexually explicit chats with a girl who resides in Contra Costa County. Police interviewed the girl, who was 13 at the time, and found evidence Provost had been asking her for sexually explicit videos of herself and sending nude videos and pictures to her.
Provost’s attorneys argued that Provost was a heavy drinker and that contributed to his poor judgement. They wrote in a memo Provost wants to “find work so he can begin to compensate the minor for the damage he has caused her.”
In the course of the investigation, they discovered the girl had sent nude photos of herself to nine Facebook accounts. Seven of those were to users abroad, and two — including Provost — were in the United States, according to a defense memo.
Another man, Tacoma, Washington resident Paul Bergin, faces similar charges connected to the same girl. He allegedly received nude photos of the girl after she told him she was 13, and sent her videos of himself masturbating, according to court records.