They arrested this guy for a virtual crime, the victim being the product of a cop's imagination.
Is that what we are paying for with our taxes?

This is so bogus, as I can tell you this happens all the time.

A police department, county, city, whatever...mostly in northern states with nothing better to do "hey boys, let's bust someone."

They contemplate...and come up with ways to plan an all out trickery on the next lucky winner who is usually a dumb man, who is a perv and wants to do what pervs do.

Stupid perv then responds, VIA EMAIL, and VIOLA he flies, drives, and arrives...to BE ARRESTED.

GOOOOOOOoooooooo Northern cops.

YOU STINK in my book all of you!

You're wasting your time on sick internet pervs, when there's drug dealers everywhere, old guys showing themselves right here in Golden Gate and Naples to minors, robberies, and plain abductions of minors like the recent twelve year old they found in the woods up in Vermont, or maybe in NH. She was not found soon enough.

Focus on what's essential to protecting kids.

It was in Vermont...it was sick...and she is gone because cops were not on top of things.

Way to go Northern cops.

You're really trying hard, and lives you save from internet pervs are making the difference in this world.

Pat yourselves on the back as another child is laid to rest.

How is he arrested if he never showed up to the house?? Whose to say he wouldn't have gotten cold feet before showing up to the house??
I don't know what's worse:
the cops that sit online posing as little girls?
or
the cops that sit on the side of the road waiting for speeders to roll by?
I guess it all feeds their overgrown ego, so that their 'need' is filled.

What if this perv was really meeting a 14 year old and then decided to leave her body in the woods? It's much better to be proactive and prevent a crime. Do you really believe that he only communicated with "young" girls from out of state? This guy lives and works in Naples. He probably shops, eats, and frequents some of the same places as other citizens from THIS community,ie.. baseball/skate parks, grocery stores, movies..All places young people hang out. I say good job to the law enforcement agency that had the fortitude to outsmart the suspect. Lock him up. Keep our kids safe.

naplesska, what is even better is how the media of Masilon Ohio will have a fun frenzy with this creep as he is CAPTURED by the internet girl...oh I mean COP posing as a girl.

naplesmomma, he will not be locked up for long. He will be another sad edition to the long, long, long, list of predators on the Florida website, or in whatever state he chooses to live and register in, for parents like you to weed through as you try to find out if these strange guys live close to your kids.

First time offense...good attorney = no jail time.

Messed up system in Beetle's book.

This guy flew to Ohio to have sex with a minor (he thought it was a minor). His intent is clear. These stings are done with very strict guidelines. The suspect has to initiate contact and turn the online conversation sexual. He also sent explicit pictures of himself to the person whom he thought was a minor. Once again, showing intent.
There is a very good reason for the Internet crimes against children task force existence. It is protecting our children from online predators. Anyone who defends these people have other deep issues. restvus, as for your comments, you really should try and seek help. After all you are having dreams of "diddling with a minor". You have some serious issues.

I agree tstevenson,

I can't believe anyone on this blog is angry about this sting. Have you all gone crazy?? This is about protecting children. It doesn't matter "IF" this guy would have gotten cold feet, he already showed that he was sick and on top of that he flew to Ohio. We are talking about a 14 year old girl!! I guess none of you would have minded if it was your dauthger? Good job Massillion Police, Summit Sherrif's Office and the FBI! You guys did the right thing and now this guy will be exposed for what he is in Naples. This guy could have done this in Naples, or maybe he has. Well, he will have a little bit harder time now that his face and name are plastered online and in the paper.

Beetle - you're losing what little credibility you ever had with this steam of logic.

I have no problem with this and neither would you if you had a teenage daughter, a bit rebellious, who, with not a lot of worldly experience but thinking she does, writes a perv letters and is ultimately taken advantage of. Oh, and it gets worse! The perv then realizes his vulnerability and sticks her in the ground 30 miles away in the woods.

Now tell me, you're telling me that you wouldn't be ranting and raving, very publically, about law enforcement's "indifference" to getting these guys off the street before they are able to strike?

You really need to re-think this if you're fair.

Usually people who are offended by this sting operation are either secret predators themselves or are incredibly stone-aged about sexual abuse. If they had been sexually abused before they might see this a little different. That man flew from where I live to where I used to live and that hits close to home from me. I hope they keep him off the streets and clean up some more. There is always someone disgusting and sick lurking to hurt our children.

Also, these stings are a fantastic way to find predators hiding out and get them off the street to protect all of us!! Mizzle....I couldn't agree with you more!

If catching child predators in this manner was illegal or hinted of entrapment the ACLU would have made a stink about it already. Hard to believe that some of you are defending a guy that got on a plane and flew several hours to have sex with somebody that he thought was a child after talking her up for 2 months and sending her pics of his gear.

There are a multitude of "Stings" that various police agencies use. The courts have held them legal in every case that was tested. For you mindless jerk-offs that think this was a waste of time, you need to read the files of police departments that have cases of kids raped or murdered by sick people who can't make it with adult females, so they pry on children. So do the world a favor, don't have kids since you have no clue on how to protect them. You do play with yourselves in the bathtub, don't you.

If they spent a billion dollars to keep just one child safe, it was worth it.

Sometimes the abused child grows up to be the abuser and so on and so on and so on. The whole abuse situation becomes a huge never-ending pyramid scheme costing us billions to house the criminals, medical & psychological help for the victims to "recover", prevention efforts like above, etc.

It is not a waste of money to keep our children safe.

gutta,
It becomes our business, as a society, to care what some disturbed individuals "like" as they are an overwhelming threat to the safety of our children. It is society who is responsible for making the laws (through representative government) and society has proclaimed that an adult having sex with a minor is a crime.
The rate of recidivism amongst these gutter dwellers in astronomical in and of itself. You really should rethink your opinion. Maybe when you get past the age of nineteen you may get a little more educated.

BeetleJuice, I just read a post of your condolences to George Welch's family at Lely. You made it sound as if maybe you have affiliations with Lely High school. Dear God... So do I, and I pray that you are not on staff there, a person who thinks it is ok to solicit sex from a 14 year old (real or not) should not be around them!!! Please, do us all a favor and stay away from Lely please.

Naples is flooded with child molesters and sexual predators,and as you can see some here think that is not wrong to go and try to meet with a under age girl for sex,I think they are child molesters too.

Obviously gutta don't have kids,what he would think if one of this predators rape his son or daughter?I know gutta you don't care,or do you?

if you believe a man that is traveling all the way to Ohio to get off with some little girl is innocent then you're pretty creepy yourself. "Virtual" wouldn't be so virtual had it been a real child. These guys are groomers. They look for children from broken homes, latchkey kids, kids from abusive or drugged up parents. They befriend them. They act as though they are concerned and then they go in and seduce them. It's pretty disgusting. go to www.pervertedjustice.com to learn about the habits of these "only virtual" predators. they're vile pieces of crapola; usually just like this guy...mom and dad support them, they have no self esteem, they're losers in every sense of the word. They can't get a real woman so they play off the naive minds of children that are hurting.

LOSERS!

beetlejuice...you protest quite loudly. I notice you're on here all the time, too.

Many children have been raped, abducted or even murdered by these predators. Is that ok with you?

If a guy thinks he's talking to a 14 year old and goes on a plane to do God knows what sexual acts to her....do you think that's ok? Do you really believe that having decoys out there to protect the real children is a problem? I feel sorry for you.

PJ caught over 25 pervs in the Ft. Myers area a couple of years ago. One guy even brought his 5 year old son to hang out while he was going to get lucky with what he thought was a 13 year old girl.

If you have a child I think you'll be in support of these sting operations 100%. If you're a man and defending these "poor innocent pedophiles" you may wish to seek counseling.

That is so gross to think a little girl or boy is sexy. Ewwwwww to the 100000000th degree.

oh, and if you go onto perverted justice you'll find a local realtor was someone that said the most disgusting things and went to show up to see a 13 year old girl. That realtor has keys to homes with children in it. He's on there. You just have to look.

I, for one, am relieved there are people out there being proactive instead of reacting when the child is found raped and dead in the woods. The Internet is just the first stop these guys make. they progress into higher and higher forms of pedophilia...perhaps the poor girl was killed by a guy that started out "just flying to OH and could have gotten cold feet" and returned home. The next time the cold feet guy could have gone all the way to the house and just talked. the third time he could have made it to the home and fondled. the fourth time he could have fondled and raped. the fifth time he could have raped and paniced and killed...you see, it takes great guts to even talk the way they do to these children on line...but to get onto a plane and go there? Wow, he's destined to hurt children. I, for one, and so happy they grabbed this moron.

ps: I have helped in these stings and let me tell you what I have seen go down is so horrific. So much so that I couldn't help anymore. it turned my stomach inside out. This is the new way children are being abused. I know it's hard to imagine, but it happens thousands of times a day right here in the US. Don't hide your head in the sand anymore; as a community we must protect our children. These lovely human beings are a dime a dozen and that's one scary realization.

I hope they keep doing more internet stings so the perverts get caught!! Those sickos should not be in society, put them in prison for life!!

Online predators are online.....THEY ARE SICKO, WACKED PEOPLE.

Here in Naples, we have kids on a path at a beach, in Golden Gate, in the middle of the day with old guys exposing themselves, and they are setting up people in hopes of finding the right guy....ONLINE...here...and then in ANOTHER STATE? That's a lot of tracking...it seems like there has to be a better way to catch these guys.

I DON'T THINK IT IS RIGHT to set up anyone...BUST THEM AND THROW AWAY THE KEY...but the angle they are taking in is way off....from one state to another...the charges are even different in different states.

THEY ARE SCUMMY, perv jerks, but to see what happened in Vermont with an Uncle in the family is sick....they should have placed three times as many police officers out there to find her.

I'm allowed an opinion on this...just as you are.

It's just an opinion...it will not make a difference anyway.

freedom...federal law...what about local laws?

beetlejuice: "Online predators are online....."

I beg to differ. Predators are only online to find more victims... don't be so naive.

Obviously this guy was not just looking to get his jollies off alone in front of the computer... He bought an airplane ticket, drove to Ft. Myers, boarded an airplane and flew for 2.5 hours away all with the motivation to meet up with and HAVE SEX with a 14 year-old girl!!!

Think about who you are defending here. If you don't find that disturbing, perhaps you are one of the many child molesters that we have in our area.

This can't be compared to speed traps and drug stings... these are our children and we need to protect them.

THOUSANDS of child molestation/abuse crimes go unreported/unsolved every year. Personally, I don't care if the FBI has to beg, borrow, steal, or lie... whatever they have to do to get even ONE less pedophile off of the street is perfectly fine with me.

If the FBI was not in on this type of sting opperation and this loser: Douglas Anthony Martin, were to get in contact with an ACTUAL 14-year old girl... what the heck to you think would have happened? He didn't fly to Ohio to play scrabble, I can tell you that much.

Way to go Rachel. These guys are dangerous in the extreme. Thanks to the police and FBI. Keep it going. We need good officers out there to protect children from this kind of abuse.

Just the typical anti-law enforcement, anti-government know-nothings complaining about the cops busting predators. They complain, but offer nothing for an alternative. Some of them sound a little worried...

I think you folks are missing a point here, don't forget that kid out in the estates who fell into a sting of this nature, his charges were dismissed just recently.
I would not be surprised to find that this probably naive fellow was lured, one step at a time into this. Let's see the evidence.
The question to ask is would this person have done any of it, ( who instigated the naked pictures? who brought it up? was he asked to send them?) on his own?
I haven't seen enough to know what exactly was going on in this guy's head. Didn't his friend say something like "he's not all there"? He may be emotionally retarded, all sorts of possibilities.
Has he done this before?

Inuendo doesn't scare me off doggie, a set up is a set up, I still want to see the evidence.

He got on an airplane to go have sex with a 14 year old. That is enough evidence for arrest and charge for most of us. What more evidence do you need that this is a potentially bad guy that should have been arrested. He has not been convicted, just arrested based on evidence of the fact that he went a long way to do something that if true, deserves full prosecution. If he is innocent or entrapped the American Criminal Liberties Union will defend him and you and I will pay for it.

If you people think we have a lot of predators in the area now, wait until season starts.

By the way, if you don't think you are paying the ACLU to sue the people of the United States,

Here is the link to the law

www.law.cornell.edu/wex-cgi/wexlink?wexns=USC&wexname=42:1988

naplesconservative is right, The American Criminal liberal...I mean, Liberties Union will stand by him in sickness and in health.

Some Examples of ACLU use of taxpayer dollars

Yet, this is exactly what the attorneys fees statute is being used for today. The ACLU received $950,000 from the City of San Diego for a lawsuit demanding that the City throw the Boy Scouts out of a city park where the Scouts had operated camping and recreational facilities open to the public for decades. In financing those facilities themselves, the Scouts had saved city taxpayers millions over the years.

In Virginia, the ACLU received $106,000 for a lawsuit alleging that local government library policies preventing children from accessing pornography on public library computers violated the constitutional rights of the children.

In Alabama, the ACLU received $549,000 from the state for a lawsuit to remove a Ten Commandments monument from a courthouse. In Indiana, the ACLU received $63,000 in attorney's fees for just threatening to sue over another Ten Commandments monument.

I love how everyone is complaining of the perverts. Whatever happened to true parenting. I grew-up when the internet was first coming out. My parents knew when I was on the computer and what I was doing on the computer. If mommy and daddy weren't home, there was no way of us getting on the internet ( we didn't know the passwords). If we were on the internet the timer was set for 10 mins.
Parents need to gain control of their children again. Do not allow the kids on the computer unless it is being monitored. Please do not tell me that there is no way of controlling when your children are on the computers. You know in fact how to use passwords and do not tell them the password. Don't drop your kids off at the mall. The mall isn't your babysitter. Teach your children about stranger danger.
We can't control the perverts, but we can control our own parenting. You are a parent, not a friend!

justabore....very well said.

Rachael...I still don't agree with "set-ups"

Let's just say I know a 17 year old virgin...who started chatting with a 15 year old online. They chatted, and he turned 18, and they still chatted online.

The kid (now a registered predator)was a strict Catholic, who was a Freshman in college. He was chatting with a girl he thought was going to be a date. He then got into his car, drove to meet her at a mall, and met many police officers instead.

His parents were shocked, his hometown was shocked, he lost his scholarship to college, and he is now a predator for the next ten years of his life.

His family barely talks to him, and he is probably going to never get married either, because there's something about marrying a predator that just turns people off. He also served jail time, was convicted in TWO states, and he is still looking for a job because this stuff sticks with you.

So for EVERY REAL SICKO PERV they catch....there's another just turned eighteen year old, who gets caught up in this mess.

So am I naive?....NO.

Do I think this system stinks?

Absolutely!

justabore: the pervs go after those kids that DON'T have such great parents. They stalk and groom those kids that have drug addict parents, parents that aren't around, kids that feel rejected, are hated in school etc etc etc. I agree, ALL parents should be so great as your parents but sadly they are not :(

beetle: I really can't believe you feel this way. Why are you angry they caught this guy? Why are you angry an adult posed as a child? Do you know how the law does this? They just sit in a chat room and have their profile state their age. Try it once. Sit in a chat room and say you're 14... a female...and you will get at least 10 messages in about 2 minutes. You immediately tell them you're FOURTEEN and many do NOT say "see ya". they sit there grooming (look it up if you don't know what it is) and it's a quite disturbing process.
This guy WENT TO OH. Trust me....he was in it for the long haul.

I can't believe anyone thinks that catching a predator that goes to the house of a child to have SEX is wrong. I don't get it?

It's not a set up. A real man, a man that is not a disgusting predator, would find out a person they IMd is a child and leave that kid alone. A perv continues the convo for hours, days, weeks and gains a trust and then who knows what else?

18 and 15 year old comparisons are not what we're talking about. We're talking about an OLD man flying to have sex with a little girl in another state. HUGE difference. And you know what? The 18 year old should stay away from the 15 year old for sex as well. Just my opinion.

ps: if the situation you are referring to is real then I can only say that the convos had to be very hot and heavy or else the police would not have bothered. I know the laws. I was trained. That would not have happened unless there was inappropriate discussions...that told of the sex that would happen. If it's you that was busted or someone you know I guess it's safe to say don't talk about sex on the Internet without knowing the person. It wasn't intended for that anyway. I understand there are no black and white issues, only gray, but we have to protect the children of parents that just don't give a poop.

The cops are just as sick as this guy is, maybe more.
Two months this went on? All they had to do was scare him off, it would have taken two minutes.
This is probably another case like the one in the estates that was dismissed because the cops entrapped a young retarded boy who just wanted to meet girls.

lol so true sunshine. Why didn't this "friend" help him find a real woman instead of preying on children? He knew what this guy was doing. I think that makes the friend worse; he's supposed to be "all there"

Hey beetlejuice--lemme guess you were the 18 yr old you spoke about??? Ha

You seriously have lost your mind.

If you don't have "set-ups" how are you going to catch online predators?? Just wait until they molest, rape or kill a child?? You think this was the first time this guy did this?? Do you think when cops catch wind of these guys and start chatting with them it's the first time these guys have done something illegal with a minor?? Hell no!! Cops do they best they can trying to do their jobs with the legal system working to ALWAYS help the bad guys. Give the cops some credit!! Who's the first person YOU will call if your getting mugged, shot at, burglarized, etc. etc. etc.... You people who talk trash about cops will be the first ones who EXPECT their help in crisis and EXPECT them to put THEIR lives on the line for you (which is their jobs and that is fine by them) then you are ones that sue them for a quick buck or talk trash about them.
YOU beetle are the people that ruin policework and the legal system for the people and criminals that need it.

Anyone that has been to the Alehouse more than a couple times would know who this guy is. He was always going 100 miles an hour running around and always joking around with everyone. He seemed like a nice guy, but what his friend quoted in the article is RIGHT, you can tell he is out there. Just talking to him you could tell he had a couple loose screw, but you wouldn't think he would do something like this. Federal charges too, the article said he WORKS at Millers Ale House, i think they meant WORKED not WORKS. I have a 13 year old that lives on the internet and plays the the online interactive games on PS 3 and X Box live. He uses a program called ventrilo, which disguises his voice so other players can not tell that he is a child. I am always telling him not to give any personal information to anyone. The online gaming is huge right now with millions of people playing worldwide via internet connections to the game consoles or computer. The online gaming is even more dangereous, since half of the millions of people playing are adults and half may be children and you have no way of knowing. You have to monitor the kids closely. Parents talk to your kids regulary both about the internet myspace, chat rooms, and online Playstation and X box games they play.

There were arrests made this week of men with child porn on their computers. Images of small children engaging in sex acts, even infants. INFANTS for Gods sake.

Do you think that these men will be content to just watch/look for the rest of their lives? They will eventually graduate to the point where they want to participate.

Pedophiles/child molesters can not be rehabilitated, they must be ERADICATED, by any means possible. We must protect our children. It is a vicious cycle that needs to be stopped.

I don't care by what means. Entrapment...please! If the intent is there, as was with this fellow, how can you figure entrapment?

It's a good message to others involved in this type of activity and good for Naples because he will be removed from Naples society for a while. We don't need these type of people here. Good for law enforcement and keep it up.

Beetlejuice:

"Let's just say I know a 17 year old virgin..."

Ok... so what does that have to do with the 34-year old man that this story is written about? Nothing.

This guy is sick. If you don't think that he deserves to be rotting in jail for what he PLANNED to do with a 14 year old girl -- your sick, too.

Most of these people who commit these crimes cannot be rehabilitated. However, we tell them they cannot be around children (I fully understand and agree with) which leads to difficulty a home and finding a job. So now, our government taxes are going to take care of them while once they are released from jail.
I say the government needs to help set up programs to help these people become part of a working society. Build a home for them and give them a farm to take care of in the middle of no-where. The funds that are received from selling the fruits and vegetables support the home of the offenders. No work, no home. No visitors under the age of 18 and no out-going phone calls. No internet.
It is one thing to be a complainer. Its another to complain and have a solution.