A San Diego man who flew to Oregon to have sex with a 13-year-old girl has been sentenced to 16 1/2 years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
David George Hopkins, who was sentenced Monday, thought he was going to meet a teenage girl named Paula when he flew from San Diego to Portland in 2017, according to prosecutors.
After he gets out of prison, Hopkins, 61, will be on supervised release for life.
He was first brought to authorities’ attention by a woman identified only as “Ana,” who reported that Hopkins disclosed to her in online conversations that he had prior sexual relations with underage girls in Peru and Panama.
After meeting with the FBI, the informant continued her online conversations with Hopkins, in which she mentioned a nonexistent friend named Norma with a daughter named Paula. After Hopkins said he wanted to have sex with the girl and the two women, Ana told him that Norma had agreed to let him have sex with her daughter.
Hopkins then began speaking online with an FBI special agent posing as Norma and Paula, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The conversations with Paula included what sex acts they would engage in and his planned flight to Oregon. Prosecutors say Hopkins also sent a photo of his genitals.
Hopkins flew to Portland International Airport in June 2017 and was met at the airport by FBI agents. A search of his luggage yielded stockings and underwear that he had brought for Paula.
A federal grand jury in Eugene, Oregon, indicted Hopkins in the summer of 2018 and he was convicted last year of one count each of attempting to use a minor to produce a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct, attempting to coerce or entice a minor, traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, and transferring of obscene material to a minor.
