Former fire captain pleads guilty to child sex crime

By Jackie Valley

Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010 | 3:35 p.m.

A former Clark County Fire Department captain caught allegedly trying to lure young girls for sex through Craigslist ads pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court, the Department of Justice said.

Martin Vohwinkel, 56, of Las Vegas, pleaded guilty to one count of using a facility of interstate commerce to coerce and entice a minor for sex, a charge that carries a 10-year mandatory minimum prison sentence and lifetime supervised release, officials said.

Vohwinkel will be sentenced Dec. 17, according to the Department of Justice. Until then, he is released on a personal recognizance bond with special conditions.

Henderson Police arrested Vohwinkel in Febraury during an undercover investigation targeting people using the Internet to solicit sex from minors, officials said.

A detective found an advertisement on Craigslist soliciting minors for sex — specifically sex with a girl that said "the younger the better" in exchange for money, federal officials said.

The detective posed as a 14-year-old girl and corresponded with Vohwinkel, who allegedly sent her a nude picture of his body and one of his face, officials said.

Vohwinkel repeatedly told the "girl" he wanted to have sex with her soon, and he identified himself as a firefighter named "Marty," according to the Department of Justice.

The detective, still posing as the young girl, made plans via text messages to meet Vohwinkel the next day for sex in a supermarket parking lot in Henderson, officials said. He was arrested when he showed up in the Toyota Tundra truck he described at the arranged meeting time, officials said.