A man who used to be a middle school principle in Streetsboro, Ohio, has been found guilty of accusations that he had an explicit sexual chat on the Internet with someone he thought was a minor. The man is 35 years old. Though he was talking to an older woman, he was led to believe that the woman was really a 13-year-old girl.
Because of the conviction, the man is now labeled as a Tier I sex offender. As such, he’ll have to register his current address for the next 15 years with the county sheriff.
Interestingly, the woman who was involved with him wasn’t a police officer or an investigator. She was just a 19-year-old woman who saw a show called “To Catch a Predator.” She happened to watch it when a rerun played on TV. This inspired her to try it on her own, so she posed as a minor and started talking to the older man.
Right after she got online, she said that he sent her a message. After they’d talked, he also sent her a naked picture of himself. He sent it using a site known as Upload Pie, while would then delete the photo on a schedule. However, the woman took the picture before it was deleted and ran a reverse image search using it. She then matched his face to the profile picture he was using on Twitter.
He didn’t know she’d done all of this, so he reportedly sent her sexually explicit videos of himself and asked her if she’d send pictures or videos of herself, which she did not do.
Those who have been accused of online crimes have the right to a fair trial.
Source: Cleveland.com, “Former Streetsboro principal guilty of sexually explicit online chat with ‘teen’,” Adam Ferrise, Nov. 23, 2015