Levi Moscowitz, a 24-year-old man from Chicago now living in Los Angeles, pleaded no contest in late October to charges of arranging to meet a child this past February with the intention of committing sexual acts.
Court documents, which are available by public records request, contain notes from a lead detective on the case indicating that on Feb. 25 Moscowitz posted a Craigslist ad “seeking to participate in a sexual encounter with a family interested in incest, or to ‘teach,’ a step-son or daughter.”
A Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) detective — who was helping run a sting operation that searches for potential child predators seeking out children online — responded to the ad, created a false identity and posed as a father. He and Moscowitz then engaged in a back-and-forth conversation by email in which Moscowitz described what he would like to do with the “father’s” fictitious 13-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter — all lewd acts punishable as felonies.
After arranging to meet at a Long Beach hotel, Moscowitz drove there on Feb. 28, entered the prearranged room and was arrested without incident by four Long Beach police officers. The detective’s notes indicate Moscowitz came to the room with items that matched the items discussed in the online chat with the fictitious father. After searching his car, officers found a loaded Glock handgun magazine and items that indicated an intention to commit sexual acts. In March, Moscowitz was charged in Glendale with illegally carrying a concealed firearm; he was found guilty.
Moscowitz was charged with one felony count and pleaded no contest in Los Angeles Superior Court. He was sentenced to one day in jail, five years probation, 60 days of Caltrans cleanup or graffiti removal, 52 weeks of counseling, fines and mandatory lifetime registration as a sex offender. A spokesperson in the district attorney’s office said Moscowitz’s sentence was standard “for this type of charge and circumstances.”
Moscowitz could not be reached, and his attorney, Tiffany Feder, declined to comment.
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