Man Admits Sex Charge in Death of Girl, 13

A man who was convicted of state manslaughter charges for strangling a 13-year-old girl he met on the Internet pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges of crossing state lines to have sex with the child.

Saul Dos Reis, 25, admitted traveling from New York to Danbury, Conn., to meet the girl and also pleaded guilty to making a similar trip in 1998 to have sex with a 15-year-old girl he met online.

Authorities say Dos Reis strangled Christina Long on May 17, 2002, while the two were having sex in his car after he picked up the sixth-grader at a Danbury mall. Police said Dos Reis met her in an Internet chat room.

The case led to a push in Congress for a kids-only domain on the Internet.

Dos Reis was convicted in March of state charges of manslaughter and sexual assault in Christina’s death. He entered a plea under the Alford Doctrine, in which he did not admit guilt but conceded that the state had enough evidence to convict him.

Police investigating Christina’s disappearance had found messages to her Internet account that led them to Dos Reis, a Brazilian national who was working in his stepfather’s restaurant in Port Chester, N.Y. After questioning, Dos Reis allegedly led investigators to Christina’s body in a ravine near Greenwich.

In court Thursday, prosecutors said Dos Reis tried to create an alibi after Christina’s death by writing an e-mail asking her: “So how was that date with that guy last night?”

Dos Reis, through his lawyers, had contended Christina’s death was accidental.

His mother sobbed uncontrollably throughout the court proceeding. The slain teen’s aunt, who wore a necklace with a photo of her niece, also wept during the hearing.

“If I had my way he’d be in jail for life,” Shelley Riling said outside court. “The ‘poor-me’ stance I don’t buy at all. I think he is absolutely a monster.”

Federal prosecutors said they will seek a 25-year prison term, the maximum allowed for the two counts of traveling in interstate commerce to engage in illegal sex with a minor, when Dos Reis is sentenced July 7. Defense attorney James Lenihan said federal sentencing guidelines would call for a six- to nine-year term.

On the state charges, Dos Reis faces a maximum of 30 years and is to be sentenced May 6.