A former student of Brigham Young University-Idaho was sentenced to retained jurisdiction Thursday for attempting to meet up with a 14-year-old girl for sex.

District Judge Michael Whyte accepted Defense Attorney Curtis Smith’s recommendation after Smith pointed out the prison sentence advocated by the prosecution would not result in more time, given that Spencer Rawlings, 26, had already spent a year in jail.

Rawlings was caught in a sting after he arrived at what he thought was the 14-year-old girl’s home, only to find out he had been speaking to an Idaho Falls Police Department detective.

Smith was charged with enticing a child through the internet and inducing a child to engage in sexual exploitation. The latter charge was reduced to attempted inducement as part of the plea agreement.

A key issue raised by Smith in his argument was whether Rawlings should be punished the same as he would if there had been an actual 14-year-old girl involved.

Smith said that with other crimes involving sting operations by law enforcement, the defendant is typically charged with the attempted version of the offense, but with child enticement they are charged with the full crime.

Smith also said police typically wait until a discussion with a defendant turns sexual before claiming to be a juvenile, which he argued raised the question of whether Rawlings would have committed the offense without police involvement.

“There’s a fair amount of manipulation that brings someone down the primrose path,” Smith said.

Bonneville County Deputy Prosecutor Scott Davis did not dispute that the crime would have been worse if an actual victim had been involved, but he pointed out Rawlings continued to message the “victim” even after believing he was talking to a teen girl.

Davis also said there was evidence Rawlings had attempted to reach out to other juveniles online.

“His behavior was accelerating, not decelerating,” Davis said.

Davis also defended the use of sting operations, saying it’s because police conduct stings that there are cases that don’t involve victims.

Whyte agreed with Davis, telling Rawlings he should not think of his crime as victimless.

“There are victims out there, it just so happens that you weren’t talking to one,” Whyte told Rawlings.

Both attorneys and the judge noted Rawlings had cooperated throughout the investigation and that he had never been convicted for another crime.

Though Davis argued for a prison sentence of 18 months to 10 years in prison, Whyte agreed to Smith’s request for a rider sentence. He did not give an underlying sentence or issue fines, telling Rawlings he wanted to see how he performed in the program first.

A rider program, also known as retained jurisdiction, requires an inmate to undergo treatment programs to reduce the likelihood of recidivism. The program can last between six months and a year, at the end of which Whyte can decide whether to send Rawlings to prison or place him on probation, based on his performance in the program.

“You’re the one who put yourself here and you’re the only one who can get yourself out of that chair,” Whyte said.

Rawlings will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release.