Dugan Sentenced for Several Charges Against a Minor

By Rachel Dahl

Kyle Dugan was sentenced on August 30, 2022, in the 10th Judicial District Court on the original charges of 1) Attempted Sexual Assault with a child under the age of 14, 2) Attempted Kidnapping of a child under the age of 14, 3) Luring a child with the use of a computer for sex, 4) Attempts to use or permit a minor under the age of 14 to be subject in a portrayal or performance, 5) Attempted contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and 6) Attempted child luring.  
Dugan, age 29 at the time, was arrested December 10, 2021, by investigators from the Churchill County Sheriff’s Office who were working closely with the Human Exploitation and Trafficking Team after receiving a complaint of Dugan utilizing social media apps and text to befriend a female juvenile who was under the age of 14 and attempting to arrange a meeting with her. 
While working this case Kyle Dugan was in contact via social media and text with a member of the Reno H.E.A.T team who was posing as a 13-year-old female. During these conversations, Dugan made numerous sexually oriented comments to the H.E.A.T Detective who was posing as the 13-year-old prior to arranging to meet her.
Under a plea agreement, the State of Nevada, represented by Assistant District Attorney Jeff Weed requested the court impose a sentence of 4–10 years on count 1, 8–20 years on count 2, and 2–5 years on count 3 and that those run consecutively for an aggregate of 14–35 years. “I want that to be clear up front and I think that is a reasonable request and that the defendant not be granted probation and that he be sent to prison,” said Weed.
Weed said that when he saw the reports including the psycho-sexual evaluation and the treatment summary he was shocked by some of the things he read. “This was a man who was seeking out young girls in this community, trying to engage in sexual intercourse with them, asking a 13-year-old for nude photographs, and making very calculated and weighed decisions to risk going to prison and having sex with an underage child.”
He then read for the court one of the conversations Dugan had by text with a 14 -year-old in which he asked the girl to “hang out” calling her “wild” and saying that she might corrupt him. He eventually called her “unofficially my girl.” After several conversations, the parents of the girl discovered the conversations and reported them to local law enforcement. 
Karena Dunn, representing Dugan reviewed his criminal history, saying he had one conviction for a gross misdemeanor charge and successfully completed a boot camp program and probation. She then addressed the evaluation reports, saying “Mr. Dugan has sought out treatment on his own and does accept responsibility. He says he started chatting and should have ended it immediately when he learned the person was underage, but he didn’t, and he admitted he made a mistake.” 
Dunn said she didn’t think he should be punished for what the state is arguing would have happened. “I think Mr. Dugan is a proper candidate for supervision. I believe this court could be having the things in place that probation requires, that sex offender registration requires, that counseling would require that would put Mr. Dugan in a position to show the court he could be a proper candidate for probation.” 
Dugan addressed the court saying that after he got in trouble, he had been very hard on himself trying to figure out why this happened. During therapy, he realized a lot about himself and wants to make himself a better person and make amends for his actions. 
Stockard pronounced the sentence saying, “Based on your plea, the court finds you guilty of count 1, Luring a child or person with a computer system with the intent to engage in sexual conduct, that’s a Category D felony; guilty of Count 2 Attempt to commit unlawful use of a minor less than 14 years of age in producing pornography or as the subject in sexual portrayal or performance of pornography, a Category D felony; and Count 3 Attempt to commit child abuse or neglect by sexual abuse or exploitation, a Category C felony, guilty.” 
Dugan is subject to registration as a sex offender and a lifetime of supervision by Parole and Probation. On count 1 he was sentenced to 38–120 months in the Nevada State Prison, on count 2, 36–180 months, and on count 3, 18–48 months. Count 2 will run consecutively to count 1 and count 3 will run concurrently to 1 and 2 and will be aggregated. With credit for time served, and under consideration of probation, Stockard did not grant that privilege, he remanded Dugan to the custody of the Sheriff for the imposition of the sentence.