A 65-year-old Honolulu man was sentenced Friday to a 10-year prison term for attempting to engage in sexual contact with two young children as part of a federal undercover sting operation to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Brent Leroy Gaston, 65, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi for attempted child enticement after pleading guilty in February. In addition to his sentence, Gaston must register as a sex offender as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Hawaii District.

According to information produced to the court, an undercover FBI officer posted a profile on a social media and dating application of an adult who would be visiting Honolulu and “wanted to find some like-minded pervs like me,” the release said.

When Gaston responded to the profile, the officer added that he would be with his two children, ages 9 and 11, to which Gaston responded, “Please clarify. You are wanting your children to participate?”

Gaston continued to communicate with the officer, the release said, expressing sexually explicit suggestive plans regarding the officer’s purported minor children. Gaston was arrested in May 2023 when he arrived at a meeting to meet the man and his children.

“Protecting children from the depravity of defendants like Gaston is among our highest priorities as a law enforcement community,” said U.S. Attorney Clare E. Connors in the release. “These sanctions deter others from engaging in such devastatingly harmful conduct, and we will continue to seek them in all cases where vulnerable members of our community are targeted in this manner.”

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 and led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. The effort uses federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims, the release said.