A former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy living in Prescott has been sentenced to ten years in prison for trying to have sex with a minor. The sentence was handed down to 68-year-old Jeffrey Joseph York in Yavapai County Superior Court February 28th. Due to a recent court of appeals ruling from another county, the trial court was unable to sentence York to a longer prison term because his case involved a law enforcement operation instead of actual children.
The investigation into York began in 2023 when local and federal law enforcement conducted an undercover social media operation to locate individuals who were seeking sex with minors. During the operation, York reached out to an undercover officer on the internet and tried to arrange sex with a 7-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl. He was arrested after he traveled to the arranged meeting place.