Probation ordered in enticement case

SANDPOINT - A Washington state man who was convicted of arranging a sexual rendezvous with an underage girl who was actually an undercover detective was placed on probation on Friday.

Edward Nicholas Bursiel was ordered last September to serve up to 10 years in prison but jurisdiction was retained in the case. That meant Bursiel would spend up to a year in prison before a decision was made to place him on probation or order him to serve the underlying sentence.

First District Judge Barbara Buchanan opted on Friday to place Bursiel on probation until 2018, court records show. Special probation conditions include no contact with minors without permission of his probation officer and no access to pornography or the Internet.

Bursiel will also have to register as a sex offender.

Bursiel, 47, of Spokane, was accused of using an online classified advertising website to find a sex partner regardless of their race, size or age. A Bonner County sheriff's detective noticed the ad and posed as a 14-year-old girl in a series of email exchanges in April 2014.

Bursiel was also accused of sending the fictitious teen a picture of his anatomy, court records indicate. He was arrested after traveling to Bonner County to meet with the teen.

Bursiel was charged with felony enticement and misdemeanor dissemination of harmful materials.

Chief Deputy Public Defender Dan Taylor moved to dismiss the charges, arguing that Bursiel was entrapped by the detective. Buchanan declined the motion because it is an argument which can be made at trial.

Bursiel entered into a plea agreement which dismissed the misdemeanor charge in exchange for a plea of guilt to the felony charge.