Pandora’s Blog

Two quick follow-ups…

• The 36-year-old man from Pennsylvania who was arrested when a young girl he tried to solicit online told the cops (who then found he had already had a previous sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl he met online last summer) was charged this week with a third incident involving another teenager.
• The 54-year-old retired California Highway Patrol lieutenant charged with attempting to commit unlawful sex acts in Laguna Beach with a fake 13-year-old girl has been found guilty. Though the defense argued no intent, the jury agreed that intent started when he drove 45 miles to mee the girl.

Just quick reminders why it is essential to monitor your child’s Internet activity for safety reasons…

December 19, 2009
Lancaster Township man linked to 3rd sex assault
Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster New Era

A Lancaster Township man — already facing sex charges involving two Ephrata area girls — was charged this week with a third incident involving a Mount Joy teenager.

Timothy Donnell Anderson, 36, of 141 Conestoga Blvd., was charged by police on Wednesday with sexually assaulting and taking nude photos of a 15-year-old girl last July.

One of their meeting spots, police said, was the Mount Joy Lions Club Pool on Fairview Street in Mount Joy.

According to a news release issued by the district attorney’s office, Anderson sexually assaulted the girl and took nude photographs.

The incidents took place in July at various times and places, police said, including the swimming pool.

Anderson was charged by Mount Joy police Detective Donald J. Rusnak with aggravated indecent assault, sexual abuse of children, unlawful contact with a minor and corruption of minors.

He is already in jail on the earlier charges, but prosecutors said District Judge William G. Reuter set bail at $150,000 on the latest charges.

Earlier this month, Anderson was arrested for a second time by agents from the state Attorney General’s Child Predator Unit.

Last summer, state agents said, Anderson had contact with two other Lancaster County teenage girls.

In both of those cases, prosecutors said, Anderson met the girls via the Internet. That was not the case with the Mount Joy girl, officials said.

With his first arrest, a 14-year-old Ephrata girl told her parents that a Lancaster man had been sending her suggestive text messages on her cell phone after adding himself as a friend on her MySpace account.

Her parents contacted authorities and agents with the Attorney General’s office took over, pretending to be the girl and agreeing to a sexual encounter.

When Anderson arrived in Ephrata for the rendezvous on Sept. 11, agents placed him under arrest.

After the arrest, agents confiscated and reviewed Anderson’s computers, discovering another alleged victim — a 15-year-old girl from Stevens.

Agents found discussions between Anderson and the girl about their alleged sexual encounters and a nude photograph of the girl on Anderson’s cell phone.

Through computer forensics, along with the help of Ephrata police and school officials, agents were able to identify and talk to the teenager.

She told police that Anderson contacted her in July after she posted personal information on her MySpace social networking site.

Anderson, a self-employed computer salesman, traveled to her home twice, performing various sex acts and taking the pictures, she told police.

In announcing the first arrests of Anderson, Attorney General Tom Corbett urged parents to discuss the importance of Internet safety with their children.

Children also should be encouraged to report any inappropriate contact involving strangers, Corbett said, including sexually suggestive comments, attempts to arrange face-to-face meetings, threats or abusive behavior.

And Corbett told parents to warn their children not to share personal information such as addresses and phone numbers.

For more information about reporting Internet predators and education programs, go to www.attorneygeneral.gov or call 1 (800) 385-1044.

December 22, 2009
Former CHP officer guilty of attempted lewd conduct
By Larry Welborn

SANTA ANA — A former lieutenant for the California Highway Patrol was handcuffed and taken into custody today after he was convicted of attempted lewd act on a child that he believed was a 13-year-old girl he had been chatting with on the Internet.

But the “girl” turned out to be an undercover officer who waited for Stephen Robert Deck, 54, at a Laguna Beach park on Feb. 18, 2006 as part of a sting set up by Perverted-Justice.com, a non-profit group that targets pedophiles and is aimed at protecting children from Internet sexual predators.

Deck, of Oceanside, now faces a maximum four-year prison at his sentencing by Superior Court Judge M. Marc Kelly on Jan. 22. Deck, who retired from the CHP after his arrest, also could be ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

He had been free on $20,000 bail pending the outcome of his trial.

Deputy District Attorney Robert Mestman argued to the jury last week that Deck acted on his fetish to engage in a sexual relationship with a young girl when he got in his car and drove 45 miles for a rendezvous with an underage girl, bringing with him a digital camera, a piece of key lime pie and several condoms.

Defense attorney Court Will contended that Deck did not show a definite and unambiguous intent to engage in a sexual act with a child, in part because he insisted on meeting her at a local park instead of in a Laguna Beach apartment.

Members of the seven-man, five-woman jury – who deliberated for about a day – said they felt Deck demonstrated intent when he got in his car and drove about an hour to the meeting.

Deck was one of 12 men arrested during the sting, which was conducted by the Laguna Beach Police Department, Orange County Department of Probation and Orange County District Attorney’s Office, with help from Perverted-Justice.com.

Ten of the defendants have either pleaded guilty or been convicted during a trial and sentenced to terms from six to 18 months in jail.

A warrant was issued in July 2006 for the 12th defendant, Norindra Say, 37, Tustin, an engineer, who fled after making several court appearances. Say is featured as one of the 10 Most Wanted fugitives on the Orange County District Attorney’s Web site at www.orangecountyda.com.

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