Dov Katz, a senior Oculus employee who was arrested in December after allegedly trying to solicit sex from an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a 15-year-old girl, pleaded not guilty today at his arraignment in the King County Superior Court. Katz is formally charged with “attempted commercial sexual abuse of a minor”.
Dov Katz/Oculus
The court ordered that Katz, 38, be barred from having contact with any minor, excluding his biological children or the children of friends as long as an adult is present, until his trial has concluded. Katz worked as the head of computer vision at Oculus VR, which was purchased by Facebook for $US2 billion ($2.7 billion) in 2014.
Facebook has ignored multiple emails from Gizmodo regarding Katz, and has not responded to questions regarding Katz’s employment at the company.
Katz, an Israeli citizen living in America, was also ordered to turn over his passport. A profile in The Times of Israel described Katz as “an integral part of the team that developed the Oculus Rift headset”.
According to charging documents, Katz allegedly asked the undercover officer, whom he met on the website Backpage, for an overnight girlfriend experience. Katz also allegedly asked the girl, “How many times do you think you’ll make me cum?”
Katz was arrested with $US600 ($817) in cash when he arrived at an Embassy Suites hotel just south of Seattle, after he allegedly arranged a meeting with someone he believed to be the underage girl. Following the arrest, Katz told officers his phone number, which matched the phone number that was texting the undercover officer.
Here are snippets from the charging documents:
Katz’s case setting hearing is scheduled for February 7.