22-year-old Corye Blagg is walking into Dateline’s undercover house in Long Beach, California, a house with 15 hidden cameras. They’re recording every move he makes.
Blagg, an ex-Marine, works for a computer company in San Diego, and just drove 100 miles to get here. Why?
Blagg had chatted on line with someone he thinks is a 13-year-old— and he says he wants her to be his girlfriend.
Blaggca (chat transcript): All I’m missing is a sweetheart to share my love with.
But Blagg is really chatting with a decoy working for Perverted-Justice,an organization that exposes men who sexually target minors on-line. Perverted-Justice works as a consultant for Dateline—setting up computer profiles, and pretending to be underage teens interested in sex.
Remember, he’s 22 years old, and the decoy says she’s a 13-year-old female.
Blaggca: We can do anything u want...i don’t know how shy you are honey
the decoy asks,
skye_blueyez: lol u wanna make love 2 me?Blaggca: yes. i’m really attracted to you.skye_blueyez: k u gonna bring condems then?Blaggca: i am sensitive myselfskye_blueyez: wherd u go?Blaggca: yes i will sweetheart,
The decoy tells him she’s a virgin, and that she has a hot tub at her house. Then Blagg wants to know if she’s willing to lose her virginity in that hot tub.
Blaggca: when we get in the hot tub and we are both turned on are you willing to makeout tonight, i would love to be your first. it’s up to you
The decoy asks Blagg if he’s going to bring condoms. He says yes, and he has a special surprise for her.
Blaggca: i have chocalate flavored condoms.skye_blueyez: chocolate flavor?Blaggca: yes, it taste(s) like chocalate do you know what i mean
And sure enough, he arrives – a man who says he’s bringing chocolates, expecting to spend the night with a 13-year-old girl.
(hidden camera) Decoy: I have some drinks here, but you kinda have one already, but it’s Kool-Aid not that it’s like crazy.Corye Blagg: I need to use the bathroom though.Decoy: Oh the bathroom.Chris Hansen, Dateline correspondent (walks out): What’s on the agenda for tonight?Blagg: What’s that?Hansen: How you doing?Hansen: Why don’t you have a seat on that stool over there for me.Blagg: Alright.Hansen: Thanks. What’s happening?Blagg: Oh not a whole lot.Hansen: Go ahead, please sit down. Find the place okay?Blagg: Yeah.Hansen: Yeah? How long did it take you to drive?Blagg: About an hour and 45 minutes.Hansen: An hour and 45 minutes. And why would you drive so far, on a Saturday night?Blagg: Pick up and see my friend.Hansen: To see your friend? Who is this friend?Blagg: Skye.Hansen: Skye?Blagg: Uh-Hmm (affirms).Hansen: And how old is Skye?Blagg: I think that she’s 13, I believe.Hansen: 13. And how old are you?Blagg: 20-- 22. Hansen: 22?Blagg: Yes.Hansen: You’re 22 and you’re here to see a 13 year old girl who’s home alone?Blagg: Yes.Hansen: You see any issues with that?Blagg: I was just gonna hang out with her?Hansen: Just gonna hang out?Blagg: Well, I know she said she had a hot tub and Hansen: hot tub? Blagg: We were just gonna have fun, she seemed nice so—Hansen: She seemed nice?Blagg: Yeah.Hansen: She seemed 13, she seemed under age.Blagg: There’s nothing wrong with hanging out with girls that are 13.
But remember, Blagg wasn’t talking on line about hanging out. He was talking about the 13-year-old losing her virginity in the hot tub.
Hansen (reading chat transcript): “Can you tell them you’re studying at a friend’s house?” That’s the excuse you suggest for her to tell her parents?Blagg: That’s right, yeah.Hansen: --But if this is all on the up and up, then why do you have to give her an excuse to give to her parents?Blagg: Because she would obviously be too young—Hansen: There you go-- --see there’s—there’s the answer. She would obviously be too young to go out with somebody who’s 22 years old. She says, “You gonna bring condoms then?” I have chocolate flavored condoms. I only have two left. I will use them for you.”Blagg: Yes, trying to make her excited so that she would allow me to come up here and hang out with her.Hansen: And have sex with her?Blagg: Well not necessarily but—Hansen: Well, why would you bring chocolate flavored condoms if you didn’t wanna have sex with her?Blagg: Well that’s what I normally just have anyway (chuckles), I always have condoms with me.
While he doesn’t say he’s done this before with an underage teen— he does say he’s had dozens of liasons with people he’s met online.
Hansen: And have you ever been surprised?Blagg: Oh yes (chuckles). One time—there was a transvestite.Hansen: So you had this sexy chat online with somebody, you showed up at their house and there was a transvestite?Blagg: I mean she—at first look everybody would think she was a woman.Hansen: Right. How did you find out that she was actually a he?Blagg: Well, when I started talking with her, her voice was a little deeper.Hansen: Yeah, had a little Adam’s apple thing going on? How’d that work out for ya?Blagg: I was pretty much—I said, “Thanks for the offer, but I’m—I’m leavin’” so—Hansen: And you scooted on outta there?Blagg: Oh yeah.Hansen: Well here’s something that I think you’ll also find is a surprise. I’m Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC. And this is one of our “To Catch a Predator” story. You may have seen them before. Have you seen the show before?Blagg: I have.Hansen: You have? How many times?Blagg: A couple dozen?Hansen: A couple dozen? And what do you think of the stories, what do you think of the shows?Blagg: They’re pretty incredible.Hansen: Pretty incredible. Did you ever think you’d be on one?Blagg: No.
Outside, the Long Beach police are getting into position. And perhaps because Blagg has seen our investigations before, he’s no hurry to leave. He probably knows what’s waiting for him outside.
Officers take him to their nearby processing center where he, along with other men who came to our undercover house, are photographed and interviewed.
By the way, despite Blagg’s comment about bringing condoms, the police don’t find any when they search him and his car. Later, he pleaded no contest to one count of an attempted lewd act upon a child.
Sgt. Lee DeBrabander is in charge of this operation for the Long Beach police. He says his department would not be able to run an investigation this large on its own.
Sgt. Lee Debrabander, Long Beach police: To run an operation on like this—at the front end, there’s a lot of man hours going into the Internet chats. It would cost an astronomical amount of money to pay police officers to sit in front of computers to conduct these chats.Hansen: Essentially, Perverted Justice had the expertise and time your department didn’t.Sgt. DeBrabander: That is correct.
Some of the men who’ve come to our undercover houses over the years have come up with some pretty imaginative reasons for being there: like “I’m looking for work,” “I do blacktop sealing” and “I’m just driving around trying to learn the area again.”
And this next man’s excuse for showing up at our house in Long Beach, California, also ranks way up there… because he tells us he’s come for educational reasons.
Our encounter begins online when 29-year-old college student Farzad Kalantari—thinks he’s been chatting with a 12-year-old girl.
And it sure doesn’t sound like he’s talking about schoolwork...
thisplacesux_ihateit (chat transcript): we can talk on herefarzadboy2003: if you like sexthisplacesux_ihateit: if i like sex???? i dont get what u meanfarzadboy2003: s*ck my **** and f*** u.
But then he tells her they would have sex.
farzadboy2003: do u have any coundom.
The decoy says no. Then Kalantari writes,
farzadboy2003: i must go shopping
Now he’s in the undercover house, introducing himself to the decoy. And then Chris comes out.
Chris Hansen (walks out): Hi, nice to meet you. How are you?Farzad Kalantari: Good. Fine.Hansen: Good, please have a seat right over there. How old is the girl you were coming to see?Kalantari: Is 14.Hansen: Fourteen.Kalantari: Yeah.Hansen: That’s not what she told you on the Internet though. -- you said 14, she says right here 12.Kalantari: Oh. Really?Hansen: Yeah.Kalantari: Ok, younger than this age.Hansen: Younger than you said.
That’s when he tells us he’s not there for sex— he’s here to help her get ahead in school....
Kalantari: -- you need to study, you need a good education.Hansen: You came here to tell her that she should—Kalantari: Yes.Hansen: --be studying.Kalantari: Yes. Really.Hansen: But you also seem to indicate, in this chat, that the education you wanted to give her was sex education.Kalantari: No.Hansen: Did you forget what you talked about? Only once, that I can see in the transcript, did you talk about the importance of education. And—Kalantari: No, I—I—Hansen: Virtually everything else—talks about—taking a shower with her. Having sex with her.Hansen: “bleep my BLEEP and BLEEP you.” That’s what you said. That’s what you said you wanted to do.Kalantari: Ok, my English is not good, you know. Now I speak with you and I’m Austria I—Hansen: I’m sorry?Kalantari: I’m—born in Austria.Hansen: In Austria.Kalantari: Yeah, I’m not English is perfect.Hansen: Right. But that’s a pretty universal language right there. “Blank my blank and blank you.” That’s English—Kalantari: Right.Hansen: -- Do you know what that means?Kalantari: Yeah.Hansen: Yeah. Ok. So, why would you say that to a 12-year-old girl?Kalantari: My mistake. But I don’t like to do—Hansen: Your mistake.
Kalantari tells me this is the first time he’s had a chat with an underage girl. But I point out to him that, according to Perverted-Justice, he had a sexually-charged chat less than two weeks earlier with a decoy who said she was under 14 years old.
Kalantari: Only just—chatting, you know.Hansen: Right, but see, here’s the thing—what you said just a minute ago is not what you’re saying now. Do you have a condom with you?Kalantari: No.Hansen: You don’t. Do you have it in your car?Kalantari: No. Do you want to check my car?Hansen: I didn’t say that. I’m just asking you did you bring condoms.Kalantari: No. No. No. Hansen: Then why did you ask her if she had condoms here?Kalantari: Yeah, ok, only ask.Hansen: Well, here is what you need to know. I’m Chris Hansen.Kalantari: Is police?Hansen: I’m not police. I’m with “Dateline” NBC and we’re doing a story on people—Kalantari: Oh.Hansen: who—try to meet underage boys and girls online for sex. So if there’s anything else you’d like to tell us—Kalantari: Sorry. No, no. bye.
Kalantari says goodbye to us, and hello to the Long Beach police.
At the processing center, Kalantari is distraught and says he’s thinking of killing himself. And unlike what he told us, police found condoms in Kalantari’s pocket. Later, Kalantari pleaded guilty to one count of an attempted lewd act upon a child.
Back at the house, 23-year-old Satinder Thind is pulling up in a fancy Infinity Coupe. He’s a loan consultant and lives in Long Beach, just about a mile from our undercover house.
sst83 (chat transcript): so how far have u gone with a guycarlykicksbutt93: u meen like sex?sst83: yeacarlykicksbutt93: i done sum stuff b4
In his online chat with a decoy who says she’s 13, Thind asks what sex acts she’s performed. He also says he’s concerned about her.
sst83: u know girls cant really process the emotion of sex till after 16 at the earilest
But later, Thind asks the girl if she wants to have sex. And he seems to be well aware that sex with a 13-year-old is against the law.
sst83: alot of things r illegal, sst83: just gotta keep myself outta jail u know
But in the end, Thind says he wants the girl to perform oral sex on him, and that he will perform other sexual acts on her.
And now, he’s inside thehouse.
Decoy: So what do you want to do?Thind: That’s a very good question. What’s in your drink?Thind: So this is your hot tub.Decoy: Yeah.Hansen (walks out): This is the hot tub, but I’d like to you sit right over there on that stool for me please. ...And why did you come here tonight?Thind: Just to see her.Hansen: Just to see who?Thind: Carly.Hansen: Carly. And how old is Carly?Thind: 13.Hansen: Thirteen. And how old are you?Thind: 23.Hansen: You don’t see a problem with that?Thind: I do see a problem, yeah.Hansen: And what’s the problem you see?Thind: Well, I just came to say hi to her.Hansen: You just came to say hi. Thind: Yeah.Hansen: But, in your conversation on the Internet, you talk about more than just coming over to say hi.Thind: That wasn’t my intention. But if you see, in the conversation—Hansen: Oh, I have the conversation… you seem to be counseling her that perhaps she’s too young to have sex. Thind: Um humHansen: But then the conversation sort of switches back around doesn’t it? Sort of like you’re the concerned older guy for a minute. Trying to say, “Maybe you shouldn’t have sex.” But then it transitions into, “Well, if you’re going to have sex, it might as well be with me.” That’s kind of what you’re saying to her.Thind: No, not at all.Hansen: No? Not at all? Thind: I wouldn’t—no, never.Hansen (reading transcript): You say, “Yep, I knew it, you’re a horny little 13-year-old girl.” You say, “I’m gonna lick you.”Thind: Oh, I say that a lot. that’s—Hansen: You say that a lot?Thind: Yeah.Hansen: “I’m a gonna lick you.” You say that a lot to 13-year-old girls?Thind: No.Hansen: She kept insisting that I come over. Hansen: So a 13-year-old girl controls your life.Thind: No. Hansen: --you see, what you’re saying then doesn’t make any sense.Thind: Well, she kept saying she’s sad that I’m not coming. So I just thought I’d come by, stop and say hi, and then leave.Hansen: Here you talk about taking her for a ride in your car. Do you think that’s ok to—stop by and pick up a 13-year-old girl who’s home alone and take her for a ride in your car?Thind: I see where that has a little bit of problems, yeah.Hansen: Little bit of a problem there.
And like some of the others, he also says he’s here, not for sex, but out of concern for the girl’s welfare.
Thind: Another reason I wanted to come by, stop by, is she’s 13, her mother’s out of town, I wanted to make sure everything’s ok, you know, Hansen: So you were gonna baby-sit. You’re just gonna check the locks on the doors? You’ve never met this girl before. Thind: um hum Hansen: and here you are in this house, and you expect me to believe that you came over here just to check on the locks on the doors?Thind: No, I came to check to make sure she’s okay, and just say hi.Hansen: She’s ok. And just to say hi.Thind: I still had someplace to go right now. So I just came to stop by for a minute.Hansen: And where are you going now?Thind: I was going to my parents’ house.Hansen: Your parents’ house?Thind: Uh-huh (affirms).Hansen: Alright, well, before you head off to your parents’ house, there’s something you need to know.Thind: Ok.Hansen: And that is, I’m Chris Hansen with “Dateline NBC.”Thind: um humHansen: We’re doing a story on adults who try to meet kids online for sex. And if there’s anything else you want to say to me, we’d like to hear it.Thind: That’s it.
His reaction? We expected surprise—instead we got curiosity.
Thind: Can you notify and let me know if it’ll be on or not?Hansen: If you—give me a call.Thind: Okay.Hansen: Alright.Thind: Let me get your card.Hansen: I don’t have a card with me, but I’ll write down the number.
Outside, the Long Beach police are ready to give him another number— a case number. Thind is charged with one count of an attempted lewd act on a child.
But what has the police more concerned is the fact that he has a legally registered gun in the trunk of his car, along with a clip loaded with bullets.
Sgt. Lee DeBrabander: These guys are living in a fantasy world. They have the fantasy of having sex with a child. And you don’t know how far they’re going to take that fantasy.
And they may have the fantasy of going out in a blaze of glory. And they may have a fantasy of harming somebody when they go out. You just don’t know.
Later, Thind pleaded not guilty.
Over the three days of our investigation in Long Beach, 38 men are arrested. And at times, there are so many suspects coming to the undercover house that police have to adjust their strategy--- as you will see with these next visitors.
Meet Josiah Walker. He drove a Cobra Mustang a hundred miles from San Diego. The 27-year-old who serves pizza at Costco uses the screen name ‘hot95cobraguy.’
He chatted online with someone who said she was a 13-year-old girl.
hot95cobraguy (chat transcript): are you a virgin?hot95cobraguy: ever give a bj before?hot95cobraguy: Have u tried anal?hot95cobraguy: do you know what u like doing in bed yet?
Walker asks ifshe’s a virgin, if she’s tried oral sex, anal sex, what sexual positions she likes, and—he wants to know if she would try group sex.
And he appears to know that it would be illegal to have sex with a 13-year-old when he writes:
hot95cobraguy: your young and i dont wanna get in trouble
But here he is—and he can’t wait to get into our undercover house.
Decoy: hello? Hey come on in. How you doin? Josiah Walker: I’m good how are you? Decoy: Good come on in. Walker: Want me to park in the garage?Decoy: Oh no, no big deal at all. How was your drive? Walker: Pretty good how are you? Decoy: What are you doing? Walker: Giving you a hug.Decoy: awesome. hi, hi (laughs)Chris Hansen (walks out): You got your hug, why don’t you have a seat over there for me right there. Why don’t you take your hands out of your pockets. Hansen: Pretty shiny Mustang you got out there.Walker: Hmm, thank you.Hansen: What was it that perhaps you had on the potential menu for tonight?Walker: Spend the night here.Hansen: Spend the night.Walker: (Sighs) You a private investigator or police or?Hansen: I’ll get to that in a minute. How old is this girl thank you came to visit?Walker: umm, I think she had told me she was 13.Hansen: 13. 13 right?Walker: yeahHansen: And you are 27.Walker: um hum (affirms).Hansen: You often meet 13-year-old girls? Walker: Oh no, no no.Hansen: Well, you make it sound like it’s such a terrible thing, yet here you are, in this living room where you believed a 13-year-old girl was home alone. Walker: Slip of judgmentHansen: A slip of judgment.
Walker tells me he brought a change of clothes in case he spent the night, a camera and condoms.
Hansen: And you’re here to meet a 13-year-old girl who’s home alone, after a sexually charged conversation in a chat room.Walker: Yeah, that’s not good. Hansen: Alright, well, there’s something you’ve got to know. I’m Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC and we’re doing a story on adults who meet teens to have sex and if there’s anything else you want to tell me, now would be a good time, otherwise obviously you’re free to walk out the door.
We ask Walker to leave through the back door, because out front is our next visitor. When more than one suspect shows up at a time, it poses a challenge for the Long Beach police.
Sgt. Lee DeBrabander: We really had to keep close communication with the arrest team so that they knew what was going on. One of the problems was if they would have came out from their hiding spot too early, the next predator coming up might have seen them and been scared away.
For instance, when 26-year-old Joshua Larios walks in the front door, the police hold our earlier visitor in the backyard before taking him in for processing.
Decoy: How was your drive?Larios: Not too bad
Larios chatted on line using the screen name ‘dtwnsd’—to a decoy who said she’s a 13-year-old girl.
Larios sends the girl a picture of his penis, then he writes:
Dtwnsd (chat transcript): would you like to see in person?
Later, he writes
Dtwnsd: if you visit me would you do anything i ask sexually?tiffanyjoy2cute: yah i guess
Larios asks the girl to appear naked in front of her father.
Dtwnsd: when no one else is around i wnat you to let him catcj you naked and seee what he sayz
And he wants her to do something else in front of a school teacher.
Dtwnsd: i wnat you to wear a skirt and no panties and let one of your male teachers see your legs open in class
Then Larios tells the girl about the sex acts they will perform together. We can’t repeat them here.
And then there he is in our undercover house.
Decoy: Awesome. I made us some drinks. Larios: Did you? Okay cool.
...meeting someone he was told is 13.
As soon as Larios sees me, he makes a beeline for his car. Because the police are busy with our earlier suspect in the backyard, they can’t catch Larios before he speeds away in his $50,000 Lexus.
So an undercover police car follows him down the block.
Just around the corner, Larios is pulled over by a squad car, and gives up peacefully. He’s arrested, and brought to the processing center. He refuses to give the police any information without his attorney present.
Larios and our earlier suspect, Josiah Walker were both charged with one count of an attempted lewd act on a child. Larios faces an additional charge of attempting to send harmful matter. Both men pleaded not guilty.
A bit later on the police bring in someone who never made it into the house.
He’s 32-year-old Gabor Nagy a waiter at a pizza restaurant who had a sexually-explicit chat with someone who told him she was twelve.
He drove past as another suspect was being arrested in front of the house.
That’s when police took him into custody.
Sgt. Lee DeBrabander: In the chat, the girl said that she was having her birthday indicating that she was under the age of 14. I believe she said she was turning 13.
At first, he insisted he didn’t know how old she was, except for one thing.
Sgt. Lee DeBrabander: He brought her a birthday cake for her 13th birthday.Hansen: So, once confronted with that it was hard for him to say he didn’t know how old she was?Sgt. DeBrabander: Very much so.
Later, Nagy pleaded no contest to one count of an attempted lewd act on a child.
Our house in Long Beach, California may look ordinary from the outside, but inside it’s crammed with electronic gear, our production team, and cameras—so we’re able to keep an eye on all angles.
And it’s a good thing. We were expecting Maroof Farooq to show up, after having a sexually explicit chat with a decoy who said she was a twelve year-old female.
So we were surprised when he gathered outside our house with two other individuals. Farooq and another man stay outside, and send in a young man.
Decoy (hidden camera): Wanna pour me some drinks? Are you sure? All right. Well, okay. I’m gonna go call a couple friends since you have a couple of friends...what do you think? Chris (steps out): Hey, how you doing? Why don’t you have a seat right over there?. Are those your friends outside?
We quickly realize that the young man—who we learn is just 15, doesn’t seem to know what’s going on.
Hansen: Did you bring condoms?15-year-old: No. I’m not come for the sex. I’m just coming for the meet—like friend. I have girlfriend already.
He tells us that it was the man outside, Farooq, whose idea it was to come here.
Using the screen name ‘spaki786,’ Farooq describes in terms too graphic to use on television how he’s going to have anal and oral sex with girl—and how large his penis is.
Back inside, a 15-year-old is still saying his friend set this all up.
While I’m having the conversation inside, the two men outside apparently get suspicious. They leave their friend inside, and try to get to their car. But the police take them into custody.
Hansen: Why don’t you do me a favor. Your friends outside? Why don’t you go get ‘em and tell ‘em I’d like to talk to ‘em.
It’s only after he’s arrested too, that the police begin to sort out what happened.
The 15-year-old is released, and isn’t charged with a crime. And the other man who accompanied Farooq also tells the police he didn’t know what was going on. Later police also release him and don’t charge him with a crime.
But Farooq himself, the man who had those graphic chats with someone who said she was 12, is charged with one count of an attempted lewd act upon a child.
Sgt. Lee DeBrabander: He was the one that masterminded this plan. The other two individuals, they didn’t really know everything that was going on. They knew they were going to meet a girl. From what we were able to determine, they did not know the age of that girl.
Later, Maroof Farooq pleaded not guilty.
At the processing center, we meet some other men who didn’t come to the house, but are still arrested and charged. They all had sexual chats on-line with decoys who said they were underage.
34-four-year old Loren Hayden, a software engineer, tells the police he works for the U.S. Defense Department.
Online, Hayden has a sexual chat with a decoy who says she’s 13.
After saying he looks like Brad Pitt, he tells the girl that he has a very large penis. Then he sends along a picture of it, and agrees to meet for sex.
He's arrested. And remember how Hayden boasted on line about the size of his genitals? He pulls a large sexual device out of his pants. Later, Hayden pleaded no contest to one count of an attempted lewd act upon a child, and to one count of attempting to send harmful matter.
And then there’s another man, 28-year-old Alvin King. Using the screen name ‘solepleaser’, he had a sexually explicit on line chat with someone who said she is a 13-year-old girl.
Living up to his screen name, King tells her he likes to suck on toes.
He says he wants to have oral sex with her. And he’s clearly seen our investigations before.
Solepleaser (chat transcript): are u a cop posing undercover to catch “online predators” ...samantha_gurl01: no wtf r u talking aboutsolepleaser: don’t u watch dateline?samantha_gurl01: no whats thatsolepleaser: it’s a show on nbc. they take guys to jail for messing around with young girls
Maybe that’s why he doesn’t want to come to our house. He was arrested in the park and brought to processing. We find out later that King runs a Website called “Hot Barefoot Women.” King later pleaded no contest to one count of an attempted lewd act upon a child, and one count of attempting to send harmful matter.
But there’s another potential predator who has a history with Perverted Justice. He doesn’t want to come to our house either, so our decoy is now waiting for him in the park. So are Dateline’s cameras.
He’s 48-year-old Frank Sierras. Back in 2004, before Dateline was working with Perverted Jusice, Sierras—using the screen name putbulldavid2001-- chatted on line with a decoy who said she was 13.
Back then, Perverted-Justice put his chat on its Website, but Sierras was never charged with any crime.
Then, two years later, during Dateline’s investigation in Petaluma, California, Sierras began another sexually-explicit chat with a decoy who told him she was 13.
Frag, Perverted-Justice: He wanted to come but he was afraid it was a setup, but afterwards he was remorseful that he didn’t.
Fast forward to our current investigation. That same Perverted-Justice decoy tells Sierras she’s visiting a friend in Long Beach.
They agree to a meeting in the park, and now our decoy is waiting for Sierras to arrive. And we’re about to find out that Sierras has a violent past.
48-year-old Frank Sierras is driving more than 300 miles to get to long beach. He’s coming to meet a girl he chatted with online.
But for this meeting, the decoy is waiting in a park, because Sierras said he didn’t want to meet at the house.
According to Perverted-Justice, Sierras had a sexual chat with an underage decoy before.
Now, using the screen name ‘caliguy4u_2005’ Sierras, chatted online for more almost a month with a decoy who said she was 13.
In his earlier chat, he sent that picture of his penis and talked about making love to a 13-year-old. Well this time, he’s much more careful about what he says, but Perverted-justice explains why he’s still dangerous.
Frag, Perverted-Justice volunteer: He’s trying to gain the confidence of this child and make her feel special and important, and in a lot of ways the log isn’t the most graphic but its sickening when you realize its total manipulation of a child...
All through the chat, the 48-year-old Sierras compliments the girl.
caliguy4u_2005 (chat transcript): ur the nicest girl ive chatted with in a long timeannaangel1993: aww ur sweetcaliguy4u_2005: id sure love to spoil ucaliguy4u_2005: with flowers, chocolates, clothes, perfume
He says he wants to buy her flowers, clothes, and chocolates. He even sends her a picture of an audio player he bought for her. But Sierras also tells her she’s sexy, talks about her bra size, and about what kind of underwear she has on.
caliguy4u_2005: there not thongs r they?annaangel1993: bikinicaliguy4u_2005: ah those r hotcaliguy4u_2005: that be cool if u cud model them for me
He says he would like to spend the night with her, and fondle and kiss her breasts.
When the girl says she’s visiting relatives in Long Beach, Sierras offers to drive down, and give her a ride back home to northern California. Now, the decoy is here in the park waiting for him.
Sgt. Lee DeBrabander: I believe by doing that he felt that he could also survey the area and see who else was around and what the chances were that this was a law enforcement operation.
And in fact, the Long Beach police have the park surrounded, and we’re there with our cameras.
According to his chat, Sierras is driving an SUV. But suddenly he drives up in a different vehicle, and approaches the decoy. The conversation is hard to hear, but he’s clearly suspicious. The decoy’s hair looks different from the online photo sierras saw.
As I walk over to talk to him, he spots me and runs. The police make their move.
Chris Hansen: Frank? I’m Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC. We’re doing a story on guys who try to meet children online for sex. Do you want to tell anything about what you were doing in this chat (Chris flips the pages of the chat packet) with someone who identified herself as 13 year-old girl?
Sierras says nothing, and is taken away to processing. Then, police discover that, instead of driving his SUV, Sierras rented a car, perhaps to throw the police off. They also find that pink MP4 player Sierras said he was bringing for the girl.
And, he was apparently in a hurry to get here.
Police officer: Along with the directions it looks like California Highway Patrol cited him for speeding.
And it turns out, there’s violence in Sierras’ past. In 1987, he pleaded no contest to a charge of assault and served three months in prison.
Hansen: What kind of danger do you think would be present for a guy like this taking a young girl for a ride that long, on a trip that long?Sgt. Lee DeBrabander: He could do anything. And she would be powerless. She’s away from people she knows and familiar locations. He could take her anywhere.
Later, Sierras pleaded not guilty to one count of an attempted lewd act on a child.
Sierras’ lawyer told us he has no comment.
Back at the house, 26-year-old Robert Williams is thinking about coming inside. Williams is a truck driver who chatted online with someone who told him she was 11 years old—our youngest decoy ever. He sends a live Web camera shot of himself while he’s masturbating.
Apparently, before he comes inside, Williams wants to go back to his car. But, taking no chances, the police arrest him.
Williams later pleaded no contest to one count of attempted sex with a minor.
Then there’s this man... 32-year-old Corey Edgar, nicknamed Rick.
Edgar, using the screen name “ricks_talented_tongue” chatted online with a decoy who told him she was a 12-year-old girl.
He tells her he’s sending a picture of his penis. He asks if the girl has condoms, and in graphic terms, if he can perform oral sex on her.
But in the middle of the chat, he suddenly becomes suspicious:
ricks_talented_tongue (chat log): I have a strong feeling you are either a undercover or a cop trying to set older guys up.. you hear about it all the timethisplacesux_ihateit: ur insane
And he makes this declaration.
ricks_talented_tongue: i would never meet a female under 18 to do anything sexual. I am reporting you to yahoo. Please leave me alone
Is he just testing the waters to protect himself? Whatever his intent, Edgar doesn’t leave the decoy alone, and keeps chatting. Just to be sure the girl is real, he says he wants to talk to her on the phone.
Perverted-Justice obliges, and puts the decoy on the line with him. In the end, he decides to come—but he’s still not convinced.
For the next few minutes after he enters the home, Edgar can’t decide whether he wants to stay or go. Finally, he comes in, but spots our camera crew in the next room.
Corey Edgar (at the house, sees Hansen): See?Chris Hansen (walks out): You are a suspicious guy, Rick.Edgar: I told you there’s people here.Hansen: I want to speak with you for a minute. Why don’t you have a seat right over there.Edgar: I don’t—I wasn’t planning on any of this.Hansen: Good, I want to hear the whole story. So come on over here and have a seat. You can tell me all about it. Edgar: Geeze, I might as well, just—my life’s over. My life’s over.Hansen: Rick, now I’ve got some transcripts here of your conversation with this girl. Edgar: Didn’t—I did not want this to happen—I didn’t do anything—Hansen: Please have a seat on this stool. Relax. Calm down for a minute. Hansen: Alright, let me just, so let’s clear the air...Edgar: I’ve never done anything like this. Hansen: Let me read to you the first line out of your mouth. “Hello, how’re you doing? Can I tease and please your blank with my tongue, and make you blank over and over?” Right after that, she tells you she’s 12.Edgar: And then I said, “Y—you’re a little too young. Please—“Hansen: Right. You say, “I knew a young female like would like that.”Edgar: You’re arresting me and everything like that.Hansen: I’m not, I’m not arresting you.Edgar: They are.
Though he doesn’t see them, Edgar seems to know the police are outside.
And that shouldn’t be a surprise. Remember that Edgar sent this picture of what he said was his penis?
Edgar: That ain’t mine. No.Hansen: Whose was it?Edgar: I have no clue. That ain’t mine.Hansen: So you didn’t send her, or transmit, or let her see—Edgar: It—it was a fake picture, is what it was.Hansen: Okay, but you transmitted it?Edgar: Yes.Hansen: It may not have been you, but you transmitted a picture of somebody’s genitals—Edgar: All I did was copy it and I did that. That’s it.Hansen: Okay. Do you think that’s appropriate behavior, when talking to somebody who says she’s a 12-year-old?Edgar: No, it’s not.Hansen: No. okay Edgar: Read what I wrote to her this morning when she kept playing—trying to get an older guy. “This is wrong,” I s—I clearly said, “Please leave me alone. Do not message me.” What does she keep doin’, she keeps messaging me. And m—trying to get an older guy to come over here.Hansen: So it’s her fault?Edgar: No, it’s not—it—Hansen: Blame the victim...Edgar: It’s not my fault. It’s not her fault.Hansen: Not your fault, Rick? You kept going with the conversation. Edgar: I came here because I was going to get cigarettes, fill up my tank and then go fishing.Hansen: What, you thought they sell cigarettes at this house?Edgar: No.Hansen: Do you think they sell gas at this house?Edgar: No, I do not.Hansen: Then why even stop here, then, if all you were going to do today is get cigarettes and gas.Edgar: That’s why it was wrong for me to even stop here, and I just-- Hansen: Come on you gotta have some sort of... Edgar: I was going fishing. Check my trunk. I—I have my fishing gear. My fishing license is in my console. I was going fishing.Hansen: It sounds like what you’re fishing for was sex with a 12-year-old girl is what you were fishing for.Edgar: Just please check my trunk—Hansen: ... now you told me already about getting gas and going fishing... Edgar: Who are you?Hansen: Who am I?Edgar: Yes.Hansen: I’m Chris Hansen, Dateline, NBC. And we’re doing a story on adults, who try to meet children on-line for sex. Now, if there’s anything else you wanna tell us, we’d be happy to hear it. If not, feel free walk right out the door you came in.Edgar: I don’t want to walk out the door. They gonna take me anyway.Hansen: Is there anything else you want people to know of your situation?Edgar: My life is screwed. I’m done. My family’s done. They’re waiting to arrest me. They’re waiting to take me to jail.
In fact, the Long Beach police are getting into position.
Hansen: Staying here isn’t gonna help you.Edgar: I just feel like I’m gonna throw up.Hansen: Well, maybe another good reason to go outside. Now Rick, it’s not gonna help you to stay here any longer, okay? Rick? I’m serious.Edgar: Can I have a drink?Hansen: If you like. Now, Rick, I think it’s time to go.
Edgar is charged with one count of an attempted lewd act upon a child. He later plead no contest to one count of an attempted lewd act upon a child.
In our investigation in Long Beach, of the 38 men who were arrested, the district attorney decided to prosecute all but three.
Under California law, attempting to have sex with someone under the age of 14 is a felony punishable by up to four years in prison. Of those who were charged, at least 12 of the men have pleaded no contest.
They have been sentenced to probation ranging from three to five years. And some of those men will be permanently registered as sex offenders.
For now, all the others have pleaded not guilty. Their cases are still working through the court system.
As our series “To Catch a Predator” continues, next week we’ll be setting up a house in the lone star state—Murphy, Texas. You’ll meet men ranging in age from 23 to 63, successful businessmen to unemployed, a middle school teacher, and an assistant district attorney in a nearby county who refuses to open the door for police and later makes a tragic decision.
Most of the men say they really weren’t going to do anything, tune in next week and you decide.
One final note from Long Beach: Just two weeks after our investigation, officials in California strengthened the laws against adults who target children online. The new laws protect all minors up to the age of 17, and prosecutors say it should now be easier to win convictions in these types of cases.