A 36-year-old Helena man will spend 10 years in prison for soliciting sex from a 13-year-old girl on the socializing Web site MySpace and then engaging in sexual acts with the teen.

District Court Judge Dorothy McCarter sentenced Daniel Allen Dietz on Tuesday to 50 years in Montana State Prison with 40 years suspended for each felony charge of sexual intercourse without consent by common scheme and sexual abuse of children to run concurrently. Dietz pleaded guilty to the two charges on Oct. 3.

McCarter doubled the five-year sentence recommended by the state probation officer who conducted the pre-sentence investigation.

"I feel that this defendant as he sits here today poses a danger to the community and his own children," McCarter explained.

Dietz, who is divorced, has two daughters, a 7-year-old and a 9-year-old. During the sentencing hearing, Lewis and Clark County Attorney Leo Gallagher questioned whether Dietz could be a threat to his daughters when he is released on parole.

McCarter said Dietz is "not all bad" and could be a good father. His children need to be protected but also need their dad, she said. Dietz can have chaperoned visits with his daughters if approved by a counselor.

As a condition of his release from prison, Dietz must complete two phases of a sex offender treatment program. Once paroled, he will remain under supervision until he is 86 years old.

Helena police arrested Dietz in August after he had intercourse with the girl on at least five separate occasions starting in March and ending in June, according to court documents. A concerned citizen contacted the police on suspicion that Dietz had been having illegal interactions with the 13-year-old girl, the documents note.

The girl's mother told police she introduced her teenage daughter to Dietz at a support-group meeting she had been attending and through which the mother had become acquainted with Dietz, the documents said.

"According to statements received from members of the support group, they observed (the girl) and Dietz playing 'footsies' along with other flirtatious behavior and on multiple occasions these members indicated to Dietz the behavior was not appropriate," the documents state.

After meeting the girl, Dietz began talking with her via the Internet.

Dietz, who authorities said cooperated fully, delivered to police his two laptop computers, which he gave the detectives permission to search.

Upon reviewing Dietz's MySpace account, on which he used the moniker "Slo-N-Low," detectives found an Internet chat conversation between Dietz and the girl.

In a MySpace chat on March 25, according to court documents, Dietz spoke with the teen about "sexually explicit matters." During the conversation, Dietz asked for a photo of the teen and she complied by sending him a photo of herself with her bare chest exposed, the documents said.

Dietz also used one of his computers to transmit a photo of his genitalia to the 13-year-old's e-mail account, court documents noted.

"During one Internet chat the two noted that they knew sexual contact between them was illegal because (the girl) was only 13 years old," court documents stated.

Dietz spent the night at the girl's home after fixing her computer, according to court documents, and while the teen's mother slept, the girl performed a sex act on Dietz in the family's kitchen.

The girl's mother read a statement at the hearing. She spoke about the betrayal she felt.

"Dan, you used me. I thought you cared about me. You wounded the innermost core of my soul," she said.

She spoke about Dietz using the support group, which teaches honesty and trust, to manipulate its members. Dietz, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, showed no reaction to the woman's statement.

"I believe you are where you belong," she read. "This is the only way to keep your daughters and all of the other children safe."

Reporter Angela Brandt: 447-4078 or angela.brandt@helenair.com