A dentist from Colorado crossed the country to have sex with a woman and her young daughter, only to be placed in cuffs moments after landing in Florida — this according to a federal criminal complaint obtained by TooFab.
Jason Atha, a dentist who practices in Boulder, Colorado, was arrested in West Palm Beach, Florida last week, before he allegedly admitted to federal agents his plan to meet up with a woman and her 9-year-old daughter for sexual activity, as well as having child pornography on his phone.
A federal criminal complaint lays out the operation that led to Atha’s arrest, after an undercover agent from Homeland Security Investigations Palm Beach “assumed the persona of an adult mother with a notional 8-year-old daughter” and started “monitoring numerous chatrooms including those created for individuals to discuss their interests in ‘taboo’ sex, family incest, child pornography, and the like, to combat the sexual abuse of child and distribution of child pornography.”
It’s there that on October 3, 2023, she began speaking with a person later identified by feds as Atha, who responded, “Nice!” when she said she had an 8-year-old daughter. He then allegedly asked, “What do y’all do?” before the undercover agent, or UC, said, “We play.” Atha is quoted as telling her, “I would love to find mother daughter to play with.”
As their conversations continued, he allegedly began asking questions like, “Found anyone that wants to play with you both?,” “When did you start playing?”, “So has she taken to it does she like it?” and for the girl’s name. When the UC said the child did enjoy their “play” time, he allegedly said, “That’s a beautiful thing. I would sooo love to be a part of that … for real for real. I have had so many what I thought were opportunities only to get ghosted when it got down to it.”
Their conversations then got extremely explicit, as he allegedly laid out in graphic detail what he hoped to do with the pair sexually. He’s quoted in the docs as asking the UC if the child could wear makeup — saying, “lipstick would be good,” and saying the girl should look like she was “going out on a night on the town or something like that.” At one point, he also allegedly asked if the girl could wear “something not all that age appropriate for her,” like “short shorts crop top.”
As planning continued between the pair, Atha allegedly expressed he was “very nervous but serious” about meeting up. “In my head I get there and cops are waiting for me,” he’s quoted as saying, months before that would happen for real. The two both denied being law enforcement to each other, per the docs, before he later said he was “glad” he would be the girls’ first male sexual experience.
He also sent photos of himself to the agent, photos which matched photos on the public-facing Alpine Dentistry in Boulder website, which has since been edited.
Throughout the docs, he’s quoted as talking about “perving online,” child pornography and his hopes the arrangement with the woman and her daughter would be “not just a one-time” thing. He also allegedly kept wanting the mother to tell the child details of what they had planned, with UC saying the girl was “excited.” As their conversations went on, the agent told Atha her daughter turned 9.
On July 11, 2024, Atha allegedly told the agent he had purchased tickets to West Palm Beach, sending a screenshot of his August 9 itinerary.
Then, on August 9, he flew to West Palm Beach where, per the docs, he met the agent at the baggage claim. She allegedly claimed they could go pick up the child from a friend’s house — before they were both put in handcuffs by awaiting agents when they got to the parking lot.
“While in the back seat of the car, ATHA spontaneously asked how this could happen, how could anyone know about their conversations, and stated that it was just going to be a fun weekend with Child1,” reads the docs. Atha also allegedly waived his Miranda rights and “admitted he flew to Florida to watch the UC engage in sex with Child1.”
“Atha admitted to all of the conversations he had with the UC to have sex with Child1, but denied that he was actually going to have sex with Child1,” said feds.
An app on his found “evidenced his involvement in multiple dad/daughter and taboo chat rooms as well as his possession of child pornography.”
He was charged with enticement of a minor; Neither he or his attorney have commented on the case and Atha faces a 10-year minimum sentence if convicted.
