Kalispell man sentenced in underage sex sting

Flathead District Court Judge David Ortley told a Kalispell man at a Dec. 15 sentencing that he did not adhere to the idea that felony charges resulting from an online sex sting amount to a “victimless crime.”

Brett Anthony Cislo, 50, received a six-year deferred sentence for criminal endangerment, which is three more years than requested by prosecutor Travis Ahner as part of a plea agreement that dropped two felony counts of sexual abuse of children.

Ortley said he wanted the sentence to run longer because if a defendant successfully completes half of a deferred sentence, he or she can petition to not complete the second half and have his or her criminal record expunged.

Cislo was arrested after he allegedly traveled to meet someone who posted an online Craigslist ad for sex in August 2015. The ad was part of a larger sting operation that lured multiple men by advertising sex with an adult, but then turned the tables by saying the person on the other end of the ad was a stepmother to a 14-year-old girl and that the teen was available for sex. Cislo is the last of a handful of defendants to be sentenced for the 2015 sting operation.

Cislo drove past the location where the encounter was supposed to occur, but did not go in. He was charged under a part of state law that states it is illegal to travel in order to meet with underage individuals for sex.

“This was a victimless crime,” Cislo’s attorney Lane Bennett told the court. “This was one of the sting operations law enforcement put together and Mr. Cislo fell into that trap. Brett Cislo made the right decision at the right time ... His conscience came through and his morality came through and trumped those moments of impulsivity.”

A sex offender counselor testified and another mental health professional found that Cislo is not at high risk to re-offend and does not harbor abnormal sexual attraction to young women or children, Ortley said.

“I think that is a huge mitigating factor,” Ortley said.

Ortley said he did not agree that Cislo’s crimes did not have a victim or the argument that state laws criminalize thought because it prohibits travel to have sex with minors, when no actual intercourse has occurred.

“These are no more a victimless crime than if someone was preparing to rob a bank,” Ortley said. “The standpoint that this is a victimless crime is nonsense.”

Ortley said the stings are designed to get at the heart of a real issue in Flathead Valley.

“We’ve had sexual trafficking of minors in our community,” Ortley said.

Ortley did leave some of the standard prohibitions up to the discretion of Cislo’s probation officer, including access to the internet, associating with other probationers, and being in establishments that serve alcohol, because it might interfere with his ability to run his business.

Prosecutor Travis Ahner had urged Ortley to leave the prohibitions in place in their entirety for the protection of the community.

“If it means the sinking of Cislo’s restaurant, I’m fine with that,” Ahner said.

Cislo reported that he has been attending sex offender therapy since the incident.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.