Vancouver man caught in sex sting gets year in jail

A Vancouver man who tried to meet up with a fictitious 12-year-old girl for sex during a law enforcement sting was sentenced Monday to nearly a year in jail.

Terri Michael Talbot, 60, was found guilty during a bench trial last month in Clark County Superior Court of second-degree attempted child molestation.

In September, Talbot responded to an online advertisement soliciting sex with the underage girl, who was actually an undercover officer. He was subsequently arrested outside a business on Northeast Andresen Road, where he went to meet the girl, according to a probable cause affidavit. The fake advertisement appeared as if it was posted by the girl’s mother, the affidavit states.

During sentencing, Talbot said he had made a “big mistake.” He said he never planned to enter into a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old; he wanted to meet her mother.

“You were using the 12-year-old as bait to get to the mother?” Judge Daniel Stahnke asked. “That almost turns my stomach even more.”

Talbot’s attorney, Barry Brandenburg, asked the judge to give his client credit for time served. He argued that the sting was entrapment and also compared the case to another undercover sex sting in which the defendant was sentenced to 30 days.

Deputy Prosecutor Colin Hayes argued that the facts in both cases are different. He asked the judge to sentence Talbot to 13 months in prison.

Stahnke sentenced Talbot to 11.25 months in jail and 12 months of community custody. He ordered that Talbot undergo a sexual deviancy evaluation and treatment. Talbot was given credit for 143 days in custody.