An Alliance man has been bound over to District Court for trying to entice teenage girls into having sex with him.

Felony charges filed against 21-year-old Phillip Holden include sexual assault by use of an electronic device and enticement by electronic communication device.

Court records state that on September 26, the Alliance Police Department responded to a complaint made by the Alliance Middle School principal regarding suspicions of a man soliciting sex from female students on facebook. An Alliance police investigator conducted a sting operation to confirm the principal’s suspicion, and Holden was arrested and jailed.

Police then obtained a search warrant for Holden’s apartment and recovered several items of a sexual and pornographic nature.

Following a probable cause hearing Oct. 23 in Box Butte County Court, Judge Russ Harford bound Holden over to district court to stand trail.

Holden has been released from the Box Butte County Jail after posting ten percent of a $15,000 bond.

The judge also ordered Holden not to have any contact with females under the age of 19, either in person or by electronic device, with the exception to the order being family members.

Holden’s first district court appearance is scheduled for November 14.