ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — A man was sentenced Monday on one count of sexual exploitation of a child after he solicited girls as young as 10 for sex, according to the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office.
Kenneth Hardcastle, 31, was sentenced to 10 years of sex-offender intensive supervised provision and must register as a sex offender. He pleaded guilty on June 22 to one felony charge. A charge of internet luring of a child was dismissed.
Hardcastle was arrested in July 2019 after an Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office undercover operation.
According to an arrest affidavit, a person told police after they contacted a man through a dating website, and through Snapchat, he said he wanted to be with someone younger and that he wanted to have sexual contact with a 10-year-old girl.
Police then worked with the reporting party to use an undercover phone number to send Hardcastle a photo of a female sheriff's deputy and tell him that it was her friend "Sarah" and that she was 14 years old, the affidavit says.
Hardcastle then texted who he thought was "Sarah" even after she said she was 14, according to the affidavit. The affidavit also says he requested lewd photos of "Sarah," as well as to learn about her prior sexual relationships.
Hardcastle also engaged in sexually explicit behavior during a video chat, the affidavit says.
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