Altoona man busted for soliciting fake minor
Altoona man arrested for soliciting supposed Tyrone minor over the internet:
45-year-old Jeff Karle of Altoona, Pennsylvania has been arrested for soliciting sex from a 14-year-old girl over MySpace. Except that the 14-year-old girl was actually Tyrone, Pa. Borough Council Vice President William Latchford.
Latchford acted on his own and created this persona for the internet on MySpace.com. Latchford belongs to a group dedicated to the protection of children from predators on the internet.
Latchford first met with Tyrone Police on July 18, 2007 to inform them of his contact with the Altoona man, Jeff Karle, age 45. Latchford first made contact as ‘Jessica’ on July 14 and Karle was aware of how old ‘Jessica’ supposedly was. Karle told ‘Jessica’ that it was okay that she was 14.
During the time period between July 14 and July 18, when Latchford met with police, Karle discussed a variety of graphic sexual acts that he enjoys, also asking what “turns you on”, and asking ‘Jessica’ if she wanted to be his girlfriend.
On July 19, Karle asked ‘Jessica’ if she would like to get together and that he would “love to be her first” and have sex with her. They made arrangements to meet at the Wendy’s near Altoona Hospital on July 20.
Two officers from the Tyrone Police Department were present and identified Karle through pictures printed off MySpace.com. When police spotted him, a Tyrone Police Officer not in uniform went inside the Wendy’s, displayed his badge, and told him he was under arrest and to step outside the restaurant. A uniformed Tyrone Police Officer was also present at the Altoona Wendy’s.
At this point Karle became physically tense and would not comply with orders to relax and put his hand behind his back. Karle then struggled and attempted to run away. Officers had to physically subdue him. After a brief struggle, he complied.
Karle was then transported to the Tyrone Police Department. Karle admitted to Tyrone Police Officers that he was having problems with his girlfriend and that he was going to meet with ‘Jessica’ at Wendy’s to teach his girlfriend a lesson that he could get another girlfriend. Karle also said that he thought ‘Jessica’ was 39-years-old.
Tyrone Police Officers Billy Mayes and Dustin Rhoades explained the printouts of his conversations with ‘Jessica’ that stated she was 14. Karle said he couldn’t call Tyrone Police Officers liars.
Karle stated that he knew he made a big mistake and that he had come to Wendy’s to meet “Jessica’ and if she looked 14-years-old, he would have confronted her about the dangers of the internet.
Wow, that’s straight out of the busted predator handbook. Was he not going to preach the gospel to her too?
Tags: Jeff-Karle, pennsylvania, solicitation, tyroneRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Predators
3 opinions for Altoona man busted for soliciting fake minor
followerofjustice
Jan 22, 2008 at 9:54 am
Although his actions were deplorable, Mr. karle had removed this person from his website and ignored them for several days. During that time, this person kept sending messages to him to have him re-add them and go through with their meeting that night…. there by setting the defense of “entrapment”. This case was thrown out on those terms because this self-proclaimed vigilante is out there entrapping anyone without the backing of the legal authorities. What Mr. Karle did is from from moral, but this councilman also seems to need some mental health.
HiThere
Feb 11, 2008 at 9:51 am
I did not see where the case had been thrown out. Where did you hear that? I thought the councilman did work with police and that is why mr. karle was arrested…
followerofjustice
Mar 28, 2008 at 4:12 pm
did not see, or did not follow up. Maybe because those facts are not eye catching to people, not something that might attract them to your site. court hearings and cases are public record, look it up. The councilman went on this vigilant project on his own and only went to the police after entrapping people. As I said, I don’t approve in Any way what Mr. Karle has done, but nor do I approve of vigilant people taking the law into their own hands. And being a member of a city council, he should know that that is not acceptable in a civilized society. I thank god I don’t live in a town where people like this sit on council.
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: