2 February
2008 Chatmag News.
The Palm Springs
Ca. case against alleged Internet predator James Philbrick has ended in
a plea bargain. Mr. Philbrick had been shown on the Dateline NBC "To Catch
a Predator" reality series, and subsequently tried in a California court.
Mr. Philbrick
maintained that the chat room and private conversations were "role
play" and that he was not an Internet predator. In the plea, Mr. Philbrick
received 3 Years probation and ordered to wear an ankle monitor for 90
days. Mr. Philbrick will not have to register as a sex offender, according
to the terms of the plea.
The owner of Chatmag.com,
Peter J. Carr, had been retained by the defense attorneys as a potential
expert witness and had been gathering screen shots and chat logs to be
presented into evidence, should they have been required.
According to a
statement by Mr. Carr, "The evidence I had obtained by daily visits to
the particular AOL chat room involved would of, I believe, demonstrated
to the court that role play was a common occurrence. There were many instances
of solicitation in the open chat room for persons who enjoyed "age play".
Working on the Philbrick case has resulted in a personal loss to myself,
however I am glad of the final outcome, as far as Mr. Philbrick is concerned."
--Chatmag News--
External Link:
KESQ.com Philbrick
Sentenced.