Crime & Safety
Novato Man Pleads Guilty in Vegas Pandering Case Involving Child
His 16-year-old alleged female victim had been reported as a runaway or missing by her mother in Sacramento County.
A Novato man facing charges of kidnapping a girl for sexual purposes in an incident that allegedly occurred last year in Las Vegas on Wednesday pleaded guilty to pandering a child, the Marin Independent Journal reports.
Douglas Harry Warenback, 54, faces up to 10 years in state prison according to prosecutors. He remains in custody and is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 25.
The 16-year-old alleged victim, who is from Sacramento County, had been reported by her mother as a runaway or missing, according to the IJ report.
Find out what's happening in Novatowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
She and two other males, one 22 and the other 17, were passengers in a car driven by Warenback that police discovered to be emitting an odor of marijuana in on Sept. 3 at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel in an incident that triggered the investigation, the IJ reports.
In an interview with police, Warenback identified the 16-year-old female as his girlfriend. He said that he was going to engage in sexual activity with the girl or watch her perform sexual acts, according to a police affidavit obtained by the IJ.
Find out what's happening in Novatowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
A Las Vegas Police investigation into the case culminated in Warenback's arrest at his home in November. He was on probation for a 2011 conviction for possessing child pornography in Marin County at the time of the alleged incident, the IJ reports, citing court records.
