Jake: a wealthy twenty-five-year-old single man, narrowly escaped being arrested
From Shadows of the Net
by Patrick Carnes, 2001
I seemed to have it all: a well-off family, hot new car, and nice apartment. But I had never really taken charge of my life; supported by my parents, I was unemployed, spoiled, a heavy drinker, and lacked ambition. However, I did have one area of expertise-computers. My computer knowledge developed as a young adult while being holed up in my bedroom at home as punishment for my many transgressions. I had spent endless hours on the computer during this time and was truly skilled at programming, games, and surfing the Net.
I discovered chat rooms fairly quickly, and eventually I decided that I wanted to set up sex with a young girl. Soon, I was regularly in online conversations with a particular fifteen-year-old girl. Thanks to my superior computer skills, however, I discovered that there was another older guy who was also trying to arrange to have sex with this girl. I e-mailed this man and asked him how it was going with her. By maintaining regular communications with him, I eventually discovered that the girl had finally agreed to meet him to have sex.
I discovered that the two had arranged to meet at a restaurant in town. Since I knew the time and place and was curious to see what the two looked like, I decided to anonymously observe the rendezvous, but not participate. By this time, I had given up my frequent online conversations with this girl.
On the appointed evening, I was sitting in my car in a parking lot adjacent to the restaurant where I expected to have a great view of the action. Soon, the other man showed up-and seemingly out of nowhere three police squad cars and a half dozen FBI agents appeared. Before the man knew what had happened, he'd been arrested, handcuffed, and dumped in the back of a police car. My heart was in my mouth, pounding like a jackhammer. I could hardly breathe. I couldn't move a muscle. I'd heard of guys being busted for trying to hook up with teen girls for sex, but I thought I was clever enough to avoid such a trap. Now I knew how close I had come to being in the back of that squad car on the way to jail. I realized I had a problem, and I sought help the very next day.
