Sex offender pleads guilty to new charge

A Kalispell man caught in a sex sting operation in 2014 pleaded guilty last month to a new felony charge of failure to register as a sexual offender.

In 2015, Daniel Anthony Hall, 36, received a 15-year suspended sentenced to the Montana State Prison on the charge of felony sexual abuse of children.

In accordance with a plea agreement in that case, Flathead County Judge Heidi Ulbricht on Feb. 23 reinstated Hall’s 15-year suspended sentence, tacking on an additional 5-year suspended sentence to be served concurrently for the new charge with the condition that Hall be designated a Tier 1 offender and remain on parole for the entirety of the suspended sentence.

A Tier 1 sexual offender is required to register a name and address, the conviction(s) qualifying for registering them as an offender, and the agency with whom the offender is registered.

In August 2014, Hall allegedly responded to an ad placed online by an undercover agent posing as a 12-year-old girl available for sex.

Hall and the agent began communicating by email and then by text where Hall indicated that he was a 33-year-old male interested in “assisting a 12-year-old female in ‘how to become a [woman],’” according to court documents.

Hall later indicated by text that he intended to meet the girl for sex, making explicit comments regarding his plans to the agent.

Hall was given a physical address where he could meet the girl. When he arrived, he was greeted by officers and arrested.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.