Going the distance

The undercover operation in Fortson, Ga. is over and the last of the suspects caught in our sting are appearing before a local judge.

For most of the men, the judge sets a bond of $40,000, restricts their use of a computer and their interactions with minors including their own children.

Some of them are not allowed to have unsupervised contact with their kids.

That was two months ago. Now only two suspects remain in jail unable to make bond—George Cleary and William Rowell.

While just about all the men who showed up at our sting house said they weren’t going to do anything illegal, none of them has had a chance to make a plea. Although one man tries to argue his case at his bond hearing.

Jacob Cason: I don’t know for sure, but I hear a little bit of talk about this girl, she’s a actor.  She’s 20 years old actually. 

The judge explains that this is not the time to submit a defense, that will be at a later hearing.  And as for what excuses the other suspected sex predators might come up with, many of them tell us they’d “never done this before.”  And while many said it was their first time, a lot of them came prepared for the possibility of sex – brining condoms in their person or their vehicle.

Sometime this fall, these men will get a chance to plead their case.

In the meantime, next week we’re heading west to Northern California to another hidden camera house, this time in Petaluma—the hometown of Polly Klass, the young girl abducted and murdered by a sex predator. It’s also the one-time home of John Mark Karr, former suspect in the Jon Benet Ramsey murder.

In the wake of our Georgia investigation, Georgia's Governor announced the state will triple the number of agents assigned to computer predator crimes. Click here to read more about the governor's program.

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