Yavapai County News – On February 28, 2028, the Honorable Michael P. McGill sentenced 68-year-old Prescott resident Jeffrey Joseph York to 10 years in prison after a jury convicted him of Luring a Minor for Sexual Exploitation and two counts of Attempted Sexual Conduct with a Minor. York is a retired deputy from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.
Due to a recent Court of Appeals ruling from another county, the trial court was unable to sentence Mr. York to a longer prison term under Arizona’s Dangerous Crimes Against Children sentencing statutes, because York’s case involved a law enforcement operation instead of actual children.
The law enforcement investigation began on September 30, 2023, when local law enforcement as well as the FBI Task force on Human trafficking conducted an undercover social media operation to locate individuals who were seeking sex with minors. During the undercover operation, York reached out to an undercover officer on the internet, and tried to arrange sex with a 7-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl. York continued the conversation via social media, texting and two telephone conversations. York explicitly described acts that he planned to engage in with the children. York was arrested after he traveled to the arranged meeting spot.
Yavapai County Attorney Dennis McGrane stated, “Judge McGill had no choice but to follow the recent precedent from the Arizona Court of Appeals. I believe that precedent was wrongly decided, and am relieved that it is being appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court overrules that precedent, we will seek a new sentence of 30 years for Mr. York, the maximum allowed by law, given Mr. York’s shocking and despicable conduct.”