State v. Rix

── State v. Rix ── Case No.: 1 CA-CR 24-0046 Court: Court of Appeals of Arizona Date: March 19, 2026 Category: General NOTICE: NOT FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATION. UNDER ARIZONA RULE OF THE SUPREME COURT 111(c), THIS DECISION IS NOT PRECEDENTIAL AND MAY BE CITED ONLY AS AUTHORIZED BY RULE. IN THE ARIZONA COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION ONE STATE OF ARIZONA, Appellee, v. SEAN DAVID RIX, Appellant. No. 1 CA-CR 24-0046 FILED 03-19-2026 Appeal from the Superior Court in Mohave County No. S8015CR201901104 The Honorable Lee Frank Jantzen, Judge AFFIRMED COUNSEL Janelle A. McEachern, Chandler Counsel for Appellant Arizona Attorney General’s Office, Phoenix By Casey D. Ball Counsel for Appellee  STATE v. RIX Decision of the Court MEMORANDUM DECISION Presiding Judge Samuel A. Thumma delivered the decision of the Court, in which Judge Andrew M. Jacobs and Judge David D. Weinzweig joined. T H U M M A, Judge: ¶1 This is an appeal under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), and State v. Leon, 104 Ariz. 297 (1969). Counsel for defendant Sean David Rix initially advised the court that, after searching the entire record, she found no arguable question of law and asked this court to conduct an Anders review. Rix was given the opportunity to file a supplemental brief but has not done so. This court has reviewed the record, including supplemental briefing discussed below, and has found no reversible error. Accordingly, Rix’s convictions and resulting sentence and probation grant are affirmed. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY ¶2 In 2019, a detective with the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office conducted an undercover investigation targeting individuals who used the internet to sexually exploit children. The detective created an online persona posing as “Taylor Gates,” a 13-year-old minor female. There was, in fact, no 13-year-old Taylor Gates; the officer created the fictional persona as part of the undercover investigation. In response to that posting, an email from “Bob Bobbers” requested models to pose for illicit photographs. In April 2019, when Taylor Gates emailed asking “Do you like younger girls?,” Bob Bobbers responded “Yeah, I do.” When Taylor Gates sent an email stating “I’m 13. If you don’t care, then I don’t,” Bob Bobbers responded “Pic?” ¶3 Later, Taylor Gates sent an email stating, “I’m 13, so if you’re not cool with that, then bye.” Bob Bobbers responded, “I’m definitely cool with that,” and asked to “meet up.” Four times, Bob Bobbers also asked for illicit photos from Taylor Gates. ¶4 The detective obtained a search warrant for the Bob Bobbers’ email account. That search yielded a phone number and other identifying information that were traced to Rix. When interviewed, Rix admitted using 2  STATE v. RIX Decision of the Court the Bob Bobbers name and email address in contacting the Taylor Gates persona. ¶5 Rix was charged with two counts of attempted commercial sexual exploitation of a minor, Class 3 felonies and dangerous crimes against children (DCAC), committed in Mohave County in April and May 2019. After being convicted as charged at a March 2022 trial, those convictions were reversed on appeal, resulting in a retrial. See State v. Rix, 256 Ariz. 125, 128 ¶ 1 (App. 2023). At that January 2024 retrial, a different jury found Rix guilty as charged, also finding that Rix “knew or had reason to know the purported minor was under 15 years of age.” The court late