Idaho man sentenced for immoral communication with teen

EPHRATA — An Idaho man who pleaded guilty to viewing child pornography and communicating with a Moses Lake minor for immoral purposes was sentenced to just under two years in prison with the full term suspended as part of a Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative recommended by prosecutors.

Brian Wesley Giao, 26, of Hayden, Idaho was discovered January 2018 engaged in sexual intercourse with a Moses Lake girl, who was 15 years old at the time, by a Moses Lake police officer, according to police records.

The responding officer broke up the contact, had both Giao and the juvenile get dressed, and then requested the girl travel to Samaritan Hospital and undergo a sexual assault kit, which would provide DNA evidence that Giao had had intercourse with her. The minor agreed, but upon her arrival at the hospital, the emergency room doctor allegedly refused to conduct the test, stating the sexual contact had been consensual, the responding officer wrote.

Though Giao initially claimed to believe the girl, whom he had met and communicated with via social media, was 18, he later told the responding officer that he believed her to be 16, according to court records. The girl was discovered to be 15 at the time of the interaction.

Dozens of sexually explicit photos and four videos of the girl were found on Giao's phone after a search warrant was served on the device, according to court records.

Giao pleaded guilty to the charges against him in late January and was sentenced Monday. Giao will be placed in community custody for three years effective immediately, and violation of custody terms could result in the suspended sentence being re-instituted.

Giao was originally charged May 2018 with two counts of second-degree possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, which was reduced to one count in the plea agreement, as well as one count of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.

In addition to three years of community custody, Giao will also be made to undergo sex offender treatment for five years and will be registered as a sex offender.

Emry Dinman can be reached via email at edinman@columbiabasinherald.com.