In June of 2003, I was on a yahoo chat group called “Romance Sucks” under the user group of “Texas”. There I chatted with several people. One of eth people on that chat group was named “Amy”. I started chatting with “her”. I had quickly checked her Yahoo profile through the shortcut method and, as explained above, it showed me only the following information:

The person’s Yahoo ID was amy512817.
The person’s Gender was Female.
The person’s Age was 18.
The person’s Location was Austin, Texas.
And the idle time, which I don’t remember now.

So I started chatting with this person. Soon the chat turned sexual. At this point “Amy” told me that “she” was actually 13. Based on my past experience and the fact that “she” had deliberately showed her age in the optional “Age” field of her profile as 18, I assumed that this was yet another case of some woman wanting to role-play. At some point I think I also opened “her” full yahoo profile page to see if “she” had any picture on it. Here is what I saw on my screen: 




There was no photo on “her” profile and again it showed “Her” age as 18. Not seeing any photo, I quickly closed “her” page and continued to chat with “her” and play along with “her” fantasy. The way “she” chatted also gave me the indication that I was chatting with an adult instead of a 13 year old. Towards the end of that chat “Amy” gave me “her” e-mail address and asked me to contact “her” via e-mail later. I didn’t have any intentions of contacting this person again because for me it was, like many others of my chats, a one-time online chat thing. So, I never contacted “her” after that.

Two and a half weeks passed by and I had even forgotten about this person. One day, while I was on Yahoo chats, suddenly I received a message from “Amy”. So we started chatting again. I was still thinking that I was chatting with an adult woman. In fact, at the beginning of this chat, the following took place:

maninaustin2003 (that was me): How old are u?
amy512817: Don’t you remember?
maninaustin2003: 18 I think.

At this point “Amy” told me again that “she” was 13. I still didn’t believe “her”. To check further, I asked “her” for a picture. “She” sent me a picture of a girl who seemed like a teenager – it was hard to determine the age from the picture. So, to confirm if it were “her” real picture or a fake picture, I asked “her” to send me another picture. “She” gave me some excuse for not having another picture. At that point I was sure that “she” was lying to me about “her” picture, and that “she” was not 13 but 18 or older. I any case, we continued to chat. We also talked about meeting in person. This was on a Monday, and I had a meeting for work later, plus I was still thinking of this only as cybersex where people often talk about “meeting in person” and doing things to each other – all part of a fantasy and role-playing. At one point “she” told me that “she” had an older sister who was 18. I asked “her” what “her” sister looked like and “she” replied:

amy512827: she is 18 and about 5’8”…don’t know how much she weighs…dark blonde hair, brn eyes…big boobies…she is in real good shape.

At that point I was thinking that “Amy” was describing herself.

In any case, we decided to log back on Yahoo chat in two days (on Wednesday) and then plan an actual meeting on Wednesday. I never logged on Yahoo that Wednesday and never contacted “her”. Two weeks passed by and I had again forgotten about “her”. Then on July 10th, I was on Yahoo chats when “Amy” yet again initiated contact with me. This time “she” seemed very angry and upset at me for not contacting her on that Wednesday. She started off by accusing me, “…u lied to me…” I was taken by surprise by this sudden aggressive message. I replied:

maninaustin2003: what?
maninaustin2003: how?

But then I realized who this person was and so I lied and this is what followed next:

maninaustin2003: u never came on yahoo the day we were supposed to meet.
amy512817: bs…
maninaustin2003: I am serious
maninaustin2003: I waited for u
maninaustin2003: all day
amy512817: I got on everyday to look for u…u lied

At that point I realized that this person was actually expecting a real meeting and was looking for more than just cybersex. So, to calm her anger, I suggested a meeting that day for real. At this suggestion “she” said:

amy512817: ya right…I was planning to be there and u didn’t even leave me a message or anything…that was rude…why would u do that?

Being so aggressive, this person kept putting me on the defensive. Now I was thinking that perhaps I should meet her for real to calm her down. So, I replied:

maninaustin2003: I am sorry
maninaustin2003: u have a new pic of urself?
amy512817: no…I gave I 1 already
maninaustin2003: u have more?
amy512817: nope.

Now having carried out my own check once again I was sure that “she” was lying to me about “her” age and “her” picture. On the other hand “Amy” wanted to make sure that this time I keep my promise and meet her; so “she” continued with her aggressiveness to put me in a corner:

amy512817: I was nice to u and honest with u and u treated me like crap…u lied and led me on…
maninaustin2003: I am sorry
maninaustin2003: I didn’t lie

So, now totally defensive and in a corner, I asked “her” to meet me. “She” replied:

amy512827: r u gonna b honest with me this time.
maninaustin2003: yes I am honest
amy512817: where

At this point I would like to ask the readers that if this conversation was taking place between two people, which of the two people would look like the one soliciting and pressuring for the meeting? Who is soliciting who? As is obvious from these examples – which can be verified by anyone through court records if one is interested – “Amy” was the one who was constantly and aggressively putting me on the defensive, accusing me of lying to her and being dishonest for not meeting her on previous occasions. “She” was the one who was soliciting a meeting.
For sure I did say many sexual things during the 3 chats, but the whole context as well as my background on the Internet chats should explain what was going through my mind. “Her” aggressive style and accusations at the beginning of the third chat - which, like the second chat was initiated by “her” - were confirmations in my mind that “she” was an adult.

A person who simply reads about my case may say that no matter what, it was my mistake that despite “her” telling me that “she” was underage, I continued to talk with her and also agreed to meet her. I admit that my behavior was irresponsible and stupid, but if one analyzes the behavior in the context of the following one would be able to see what mindset I was working under:

- I had been having such role-playing chats on the Internet for two years, and I was operating in that context. 
- “Amy” had specially gone to “her” profile page and edited the optional “Age” field to tell the other chatters that “she” was 18.
- I performed my own checks and according to them, “she” was not underage and was an adult.
- After the first chat it was “Amy” who always initiated contact with me.
- In the 3rd chat, “she” was very aggressive and angry and pressured me to make sure that I meet her in person.

Also, I want to make it clear that just because I made a mistake that doesn’t mean that I now have to accept every illogical thing piled on me. Just because I made a mistake, doesn’t mean that I have to accept that 2+2 = 5. Just because I made a mistake, doesn’t mean that I solicited a non-existent minor. Logical fallacy is never acceptable regardless of what mistake one party has made.

In any case, on July 10th, 2003, after this third chat where “Amy” insisted upon meeting for real, I went to meet “her” at a pre-arranged location. When I arrived at the place, there was no “Amy”; instead, I was met by a bunch of police cars that surrounded my car. I was arrested and charged with “Criminal Solicitation of Minor”. “Amy” turned out to be a male, 40-plus years old police officer, Captain David Torsiello, who had been pretending to be “Amy” on the chats. In fact I was right. I had correctly assessed that “Amy” was not an underage person but an adult, which was exactly what the case was.