SEATTLE, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A Bellingham man was sentenced in U.S. District Court Friday after trying to molest a minor.

28-year-old Clayton Harker was arrested in December 2022 after attempting to meet up with who he believed to be an 8-year-old girl at a Bellingham hotel.

That girl was made up by undercover Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents who were messaging Harker and when he arrived at the hotel, the agents were there to take him into custody. Prior to the supposed meeting, Harker communicated with a person who said he could molest their young niece as well as the girl directly. Another DHS agent posed as the adult Harker spoke to.

Court documents say law enforcement first started investigating Harker during an investigation into another Snapchat user pressuring youth for sexually explicit images. The subject and Harker communicated with each other via the social media app.

Harker reportedly told the agents that he regularly used threats to pressure minors to send him explicit images over the Internet. He also was found to be in possession of those sexually explicit images.

Harker was convicted of attempted enticement of a minor and possession of images of child sexual abuse. He will spend the next 12 years in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release.