A Bismarck man has been sentenced to three years in prison for luring minors by computer.

South Central District Judge Donald Jorgensen sentenced Steven Wallace, 24, to five years in prison with two years suspended and five years of supervised probation for the Class Cfelony.

The sentence will run concurrently to a sentence Wallace is serving for probation violations on convictions of criminal trespass and menacing. Wallace's appointed defense attorney, Tom Glass, said Wallace was sentenced to three years in December after his probation was revoked.

Wallace, whose first name is also spelled "Stephen" in some court documents, pleaded guilty on Feb. 22 to luring minors by computer.

Police said a 16-year-old Bismarck girl's father reported to police on Oct. 3 that his daughter told him that a 24-year-old man had been initiating sexual conversations with her on the Internet since Sept. 23. The man tried to get the girl to meet him in various parks around Bismarck.

Officers arranged a meeting with the man in Pioneer Park, and he thought he would be meeting the 16-year-old girl.

Wallace was arrested at the park on Oct. 4.

Glass said Burleigh County Assistant State's Attorney Brandi Sasse Russell, who was late to the hearing because of a conflicting hearing in another courtroom, had recommended a sentence of five years with all but one year suspended and five years of supervised probation. Glass said he did not know if one year was enough time for Wallace to complete sex offender treatment, so he recommended all but two years be suspended.

Glass asked that Wallace be able to ask permission from his probation officer to have contact with his children following his release from prison. Wallace's conviction was for a "non-contact sexual offense," and he should not be considered a danger to children because of the age of the victim in the case.

"This was a minor, but it was not a child under 12," Glass said.

Jorgensen ordered that Wallace have no contact with children younger than 18 other than his own children, and Wallace will be allowed to have contact with his children only in the presence of another adult.

Jorgensen ordered Wallace to pay $525 in court fees and to complete sex offender, chemical dependency and cognitive restructuring programs. The judge prohibited him from using the Internet, socializing with anyone younger than 18 and contacting the victim.

Wallace will be required to register as a sex offender.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)