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SAC CITY -- A Sac City man has been sentenced to prison for five years after pleading guilty to using various social media platforms to entice a girl into sexual conduct, according to the Sac County Attorney's Office.
Joshua W. Phillips, 43, had pleaded guilty to one count of grooming, according to the County Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors said that during the early months of this year, Phillips used Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp and text messages to build a romantic relationship with a girl and to entice her to engage in sexual conduct with him. They said he used code words in the messages to avoid triggering any kind of content monitoring alert.
The situation was discovered after one of the girl's friends reported it to school officials.
The Sac City Police Department then began an investigation.
Sac County District Court Judge Derek Johnson sentenced Phillips to five years in prison. He also ordered Phillips to serve 10-years of supervision by the Department of Corrections after being released from prison. Phillips will be added to the Iowa Sex Offender Registry.