Man Gets Probation For Intent To Entice A Minor

A Dubuque man has been sentenced to five years of probation for exchanging explicit messages with someone he believed to be a minor. 33 year old Brett Shepherd  of Dubuque received the sentence from District Court Judge Monica Zrinyi Ackley in Iowa District Court of Dubuque County after pleading guilty to one count of enticing a minor under the age of 16 for sexual purposes. If he violates the terms of his probation, Shepherd faces up to five years in prison. A report says Shepherd contacted police on June 25 to report he was being extorted by an individual online who he initially believed to be a girl younger than 18. After sending explicit photos and messages to the individual, Shepherd told police the person said they were not a teenage girl and that he must pay them $1,000 or they would contact police about the encounter. Shepherd did not make any payments and instead contacted police to report the extortion. Shepherd’s phone was collected as evidence and showed a series of explicit messages between Shepherd and a person he believed to be a minor.