Man charged in sex sting
CENTERTWP — A Butler County man only had to walk about a quarter of a mile from his home after arranging a meeting over the Internet with someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl, according to authorities.
The suspect and child allegedly planned to meet for a sexual encounter.
But when Douglas Michael Hall, 25, of 104 Nulph Lane showed up Thursday morning outside the McDonald's restaurant at the Clearview Mall, there was no girl.
The child that Hall thought he had been chatting with through sexually explicit online conversations this week turned out to be an agent with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office.
Hall realized he had been snared in the Internet sex sting, according to court documents, only when troopers and state agents arrested him on the spot.
He remains in county prison on $350,000 bond after his arraignment by District Judge Lewis Stoughton on charges of unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a communication facility.
The arrest came just one day after an undercover agent with the attorney general's Child Predator Unit went online posing as a 13-year-old girl from Cranberry Township.
Auser with the screen name "kirby_rocks2002" approached the girl by way of a chat room. Authorities soon identified Hall as the user.
During the initial conversation, Hall openly discussed sex and described specific sexual acts he wanted to engage in with the girl, who several times told the defendant that she was 13, documents said.
Hall suggested the two could meet at the Clearview Mall, and directed the girl to an online mapping service for directions. He also asked for a picture of the girl.
The agent, still posing as the girl, sent a photograph "of a 13-year-old clothed female child,"documents said.
The online conversation later resumed that evening, authorities said, with more discussions about sex.
The defendant and the girl eventually agreed to meet about 10 a.m. Thursday at the McDonald's.
Hall was taken to the Butler Police Department and, after being read his Miranda rights, gave a statement to investigators.
"During this statement,"documents said, "the defendant admitted to engaging in online conversations with the minor child using a computer located at his residence."
Agents got a search warrant for the house that allowed them to seize computers and computer equipment and accessories such as compact discs, and DVDs, as well as digital and Web cameras.
Hall's preliminary hearing is at 1:45 p.m. Tuesday before Stoughton.