A dentist in Colorado arrested in August at a Florida airport after allegedly flying there to meet a mother and her 8-year-old daughter for sex has pleaded guilty, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Dr. Jason Atha, who practices at Alpine Dentistry in Boulder, CO, pleaded guilty on December 5 to attempted enticement of a minor and transportation of child pornography, according to a press release dated December 6 from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Dr. Jason Atha. Image courtesy of the ADA.
Atha, 51, who faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for just the enticement charge, is scheduled to be sentenced in March, according to the press release.
In August, Atha was taken into police custody after arriving at the Palm Beach International Airport in Florida and charged with enticement.
In October 2023, Atha reportedly began chatting on a social media app with a woman he thought was the mother of an 8-year-old girl but who was really a U.S. Department of Homeland Security undercover special agent.
As the months followed, Atha and the U.S. agent purportedly traded sexually explicit messages. In July, the dentist allegedly made plans to travel to Florida for what he thought was a meetup with the mother and child.
The day before he arrived at the airport, Atha reportedly said that he bought condoms and chocolate-flavored lubrication in preparation for his encounter with the girl and her mother.
When Atha was taken into custody by U.S. authorities, the dentist allegedly admitted to the messages he sent to the undercover agent but claimed he wasn't going to have sex with the 8-year-old. Additionally, he reportedly admitted to having child pornography on his phone. U.S. agents found the child pornography videos after getting a warrant and searching the dentist's phone, according to the release.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
%20nov7.3oLpzv9fRI.jpg?crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=100&w=100&auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70)
%20nov7.3oLpzv9fRI.jpg?crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=167&w=250&auto=format%2Ccompress&q=70)
