No day at the beach

Our investigation in Ocean County, New Jersey begins with a mad scramble. Our first potential predator arrives much earlier than expected. The police—staked out in the garage for security reasons—are watching monitors that allow them to see everything that’s happening inside and outside the house.

Once our first visitor goes inside, police position themselves near the house, ready to arrest him. And incredibly, another suspect is arriving. He’s also early. 

Frag: Slow roller. I think that could be our next guy.

David Russell, 39, is here after making plans online to have sex with a girl who said she was 13.

Frag: Let’s go ahead and let the second guy in if he’ll come in.

Russell walks right past the police hidden near the house and knocks on the door. He gets no answer so he heads towards another door. As he walks past more police, the cops swiftly and quietly arrest him. His online chat—asking for sex with a minor—police say is itself against the law. He doesn’t have to come into the house to commit a crime.

(arrest)

And minutes later, the first suspect leaves the house.

Two visitors in less than ten minutes—it’s our first clue that this operation in New Jersey is going to be busy. And sure enough, here comes another man.

Decoy: Hey.  Come on up.

Eugene Daily:Not much.

Decoy: I was just going to go check the waves.  Let’s go.

Daily: Okay.

He’s 53-three-year-old Eugene Daily, here to meet a girl who told him she was 13. Online using the screen name double_102000, he tells the girl what he wants to do when they meet.

Double_102000 (chat log): play with u

Double_102000: hold u kiss u

Double_102000:  feel u

Decoy: kiss me where?

Double_102000: all over

He then asks her if she’s game for giving him oral sex. While we usually only have proof of intent in chat logs, for the first time we hear a man tell the decoy face-to-face what he plans to do with her sexually.

Daily: You just relax.  And I’ll just take care of everything, okay?

Decoy: Uh-huh (affirming).

Daily: You just be yourself.  I’ll just try to explain as I go.  Tell me if you enjoy it.

Decoy: But did you like bring a condom or anything?  (Unintelligible)

Daily: I’m not going to do that today, okay?                     

Daily: It was fast.  Rushed.  I wasn’t sure if you were real or what.  I wasn’t—I’m looking for—police.  You know so. (laughter)

Decoy: What kind of things did you want to do?

Daily: Well, I just—hold you.  Kiss you.  Touch you.  You know, try to get you excited.

Decoy: Yeah?

Daily: Is that okay?

Decoy: Have you like done that kind of stuff before?

Daily: Sure, sure.

Decoy: Because I haven’t really, you know.

Daily: Yeah.  I know.  Like I said, just—I’ll take it easy on you, that’s all, you know. 

Decoy: Yeah … I mean, you seem like a nice guy so I’m not worried.

Daily: Oh, yeah. I could—I’m not sure.  You know, I’m still more—I’m more scared than you are, to be honest.

Decoy: What are you scared of?

Daily: I don’t know.  You know, I still got in the back of my mind you are young. That’s why. And that—I didn’t think you were real, to be honest with you. That’s why—

Decoy: You didn’t think I was real?  (laughter)

Daily: Well, that’s what … you could—you can be anybody in that thing.  You could be older and still have a young voice.

Decoy: No, I’m real.  (laughter)

Decoy: Like—like what do you like holding me?  (laughter)

Daily: It’ll be an experience, it’ll be something you’ll enjoy. 

Frag feeds Casey questions in her ear.

Frag: ask him if he wants you to touch him.

Decoy: Do you want me to touch you?

Daily: You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.  Okay?

Decoy: If I wanted to (unintelligible)?

Daily: If you wanted to.  It’s up to you, okay? … Little by little.  That’s what baby steps, okay?

Decoy: Uh huh.

But this 53-year-old man will not be taking any baby steps today.

Daily: This your father?

Chris Hansen: How you doing?

Daily: Ok. Are you the police?                      

Chris Hansen: What’s going on? Do me a favor and take your hands out of your pockets. Ok?

Daily: Not much.

Chris Hansen: What are you up to?

Daily: Nothing.  Nothing whatsoever.

Chris Hansen: That’s not what you just said here?

Daily: Yeah, I know.  I’m not going to—I knew this was a setup. That’s what I told her.  Police.  That’s what I said.

Chris Hansen: What made you think it was a setup?

Daily: It was her.  She’s young.  I wasn’t going to do anything anyway.  That’s—

Chris Hansen: You weren’t going to do anything anyway.

Daily: No. 

Chris Hansen: How old are you?

Daily: I’m old. 43.

Chris Hansen: Forty-three.

Daily: I mean, sorry.  Fifty-three, sir (unintelligible).

Chris Hansen: Fifty-three.

Daily: Fifty-three.  I’m sorry.

Chris Hansen: You said 49. What are you doing chatting with a girl who says she’s 13?

Daily: You know, I didn’t believe it.  I knew-

Chris Hansen: You talk about her being the daughter you never had.

Daily: Yeah.  You saw that in the chat room, I know … You know, this is embarrassing.  This is what I knew what was going to happen.  I knew all along this was going to happen.  All the way down I kept on saying to mys—

Chris Hansen: Then why did you do it?  Help me to understand.

Daily: I don’t know. I don’t know. You know, I can kick myself in the f---ing head.  Because I know …I’m so—I’m so stupid.  It’s like—

Chris Hansen: You even talk in the chat about you can only come over a half-hour.  Because you’ve got to pick up your wife.

Daily: Well, yeah.  Well, I wasn’t going to—you know, I was saying—

Chris Hansen: Where’s your wife?

Daily: She’s at work.  She’s at work.

Chris Hansen: She’s at work.  And you’ve got to go pick her up.

Daily: I’ve got to go pick her up.

Chris Hansen: And who knows.  Who knows what.  ‘We can do it if it clicks.’

Daily: No.  Well, yeah.  That’s—that’s talking.                 

Hansen: What do you do for a living, Kevin?

Daily: I’m real—right now I’m in between jobs.  I just got finished working my—my second tour of duty at the post office.

Chris Hansen: So you were at the post office.

Daily: (unintelligible) Yeah.

Chris Hansen: A letter carrier.

Daily: Yeah … I knew when I see this stuff on TV.  You know, can you—

Chris Hansen: So you’ve seen—you’ve seen Dateline’s “To Catch a Predator.”

Daily: Yeah. You know what I’m saying? Why—why am I doing this?  Why am I here? And I’m saying, oh, man.  Am I being taped now too?

Chris Hansen: I’m Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC.  And we’re doing a story on adults.  On men…

Daily: Oh, this—this is going to go—

Chris Hansen: …who try to meet kids online.

Daily: Ah, this is going to go on TV now?  Oh, Chris, please.  This will ruin me.

Chris Hansen: You made the decision to come over here.

Daily: I (unintelligible)...  I understand. No more cameras please, Chris.

Chris Hansen: I can’t keep you here.  If you want to go, you can go.

As he leaves the beach, the police coming running towards him.

Daily: Oh, boy. Please, police.

Police: Get down on the ground.  Down, down, down, down.  Down.

Daily: Alright.  Come on.

Police: Down.  Down.  All the way down.

Daily: I’m on my knees.  Please, please.  Oh, god. Why did I do this? Why why why?

He’s driven away in an unmarked car, and like all the men before and after him, he’s taken to this police station, put in a corrections van... and taken to jail.

And more potential sex predators keep coming and running into each other.

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