0:02

I've confronted hundreds of men over

0:04

two decades. I have been in

0:06

television for 24 years.

0:10

I just came to get something to

0:12

eat. And I have very seldom been

0:14

at a loss for work. Sir, I just came

0:16

to get something to eat. Men

0:18

online looking for children to sexually

0:20

assault. What's the motive here? Explain

0:22

it to me. No, you're right.

0:24

No, you're right. It's stupid. It's

0:27

not. It's an illegal thing. Men

0:30

from all walks of life. A

0:32

doctor, a teacher, a

0:34

clergyman. You sent pornographic pictures

0:36

through the mail. OK,

0:38

that's a federal offense right there. You

0:41

know I'm in trouble. I

0:43

know I'm in trouble. I tried to

0:45

get into their heads and understand why.

0:48

What are these two we have tonight? I

0:50

want to know who you are. I want to

0:53

know a little bit more about you first. Now

0:55

you first. Sure, go ahead. Let's

0:57

see if any of this sounds familiar while you enjoy

0:59

your pizza. And ultimately

1:02

make sure they face justice.

1:04

You ask her if

1:06

she's a virgin. I ask everybody.

1:09

All kinds of stuff is just talk. You

1:12

ask her if she's horny. What's wrong

1:14

with that? You ask if

1:17

she does anal. There's

1:19

a question. Question. Who

1:21

are they? Have they tried

1:24

to prey on other children? And

1:26

where are they now? These

1:30

are the predators I've caught. I'm

1:33

Chris Hanson. And

1:57

I'm Chris Hanson. And

1:59

I'm Chris Hanson. The

2:07

internet, social media, dating, and rideshare

2:09

apps all make life so convenient

2:11

and fun. Swiping to meet up

2:14

with someone new has become

2:16

part of our daily lives. It's

2:18

also how many unsuspecting people have

2:21

ended up dead. I'm Courtney

2:23

Bell. And I'm Jillian Lee Garner. And we're

2:25

the co-host of the True Crime podcast, I

2:27

Met My Murderer Online. In each episode,

2:30

we share a true story of one

2:32

such deadly annoying connection and hope is

2:35

how you can avoid it. We

2:37

were from all who were involved

2:39

in the case. The investigators. They

2:41

discovered victims inside the house. Victims

2:43

family members. Right now, it doesn't feel like

2:46

life can ever be joyful again.

2:48

And sometimes, the murderer is so. You

2:52

have to decide, okay, what are you willing to do

2:54

here? Are you willing to kill these people? If

2:56

you're a fan of true crime, then you have

2:58

to listen to season two of I Met My

3:01

Murderer Online on the iHeartRadio

3:03

app Apple Podcast, wherever you get

3:05

your podcasts. I've

3:09

always said that the men who service

3:12

in my investigations, the predators

3:14

I've caught, typically

3:16

don't stand out of a

3:19

crowd. Yes, there are

3:21

the guys who might as well have the word

3:23

predator tattooed across their forehead, but

3:25

for the most part, these

3:28

guys look like someone you could be standing next

3:30

to on a Saturday morning at the grocery store

3:32

or the dry clinic, riding

3:35

on the subway, crossing the

3:37

street. And

3:39

to take that one step further, occasionally,

3:44

albeit rarely

3:47

during one of our investigations, a

3:50

guy shows up to meet a child for sex

3:53

who is actually known to members

3:57

of the law enforcement team. with

4:00

which we're working on the sting. It

4:03

happened just a few weeks ago in Alabama. The

4:07

episode is out now on takedown with

4:09

Chris Hanson on my streaming crime network,

4:12

True Blue. Dustin, a guy

4:15

in his 40s showed up. His

4:18

parents were well-known in the community. His

4:20

father was a juvenile

4:23

probation officer, the mayor of a small

4:25

town in Alabama. There's a

4:27

building named after the father. The mother was

4:29

well-known and

4:32

here's their son at our

4:35

sting house trying

4:38

to meet a child for sex. He

4:41

was also known to the

4:44

chief deputy of

4:46

the Blount County Sheriff's office because

4:50

as a man of faith, that

4:53

chief deputy was involved in a rehabilitation

4:56

program for guys

4:59

who've had trouble with substance abuse. He

5:02

had taken this man, Dustin, into his

5:05

home, introduced him

5:07

to his family, thought

5:10

he was on a better

5:12

path in life. And

5:14

here he is face

5:17

to face with me after

5:20

trying to run, getting tackled, handcuffed

5:23

by the sheriff's office. But

5:25

that wasn't the first time someone

5:28

surfaced who was known to law

5:31

enforcement in a different

5:34

way, not just in a way where, you know,

5:36

okay, we busted this guy again or he

5:38

was in the chat room last

5:40

year at this time. Chatting

5:43

up a child or a decoy posing as a child,

5:45

but he didn't show up. Back

5:48

in February of 2023, we

5:51

were embedded with the Polk County Sheriff's

5:53

office in Florida on a sting.

5:57

There are multiple locations, one

5:59

of which was. a hotel. And

6:02

one of the men who showed up was

6:07

a 25-year-old named Leo

6:09

Sinhchon. And

6:12

he was fairly well

6:14

known in the community, in the

6:16

athletic world at least, the baseball

6:18

world, because

6:20

he was an umpire. And

6:26

as is the case in many places

6:28

around the country, law enforcement,

6:31

deputies, officers, detectives, they're

6:33

very active in their

6:35

community. Coaching, sports,

6:39

and this is a good thing on every level. It

6:42

turns out that Leo Sinhchon, who was

6:46

an umpire for high school and college

6:48

baseball games, Little League before that, exposed

6:52

to children, also

6:54

worked a couple baseball games

6:58

with the man who runs

7:01

the sting operations, the human trafficking

7:03

operations as well in Polk County,

7:06

Lieutenant Bobby Kirkpatrick. They

7:08

were umpiring the same

7:10

games. And

7:12

so when Leo showed up in our sting, and

7:14

I'll get to the details in just a moment

7:16

here, it

7:19

was not just a shock for us

7:21

that somebody who was an umpire who

7:23

had dealings with children at some point,

7:25

it was a

7:27

shock to Lieutenant Kirkpatrick as well.

7:31

More on Leo. Now

7:34

the interesting thing about Leo, and you'll

7:36

hear this in his own words shortly,

7:39

Leo doesn't come clean in my

7:41

interview with him about

7:44

being an umpire. He

7:47

suggests that he's in

7:49

media, which

7:51

had me thinking for a minute that,

7:55

you know, maybe he was a reporter,

7:57

a television personality, weatherman, something like that.

8:01

That was not to be. What

8:04

was clear was

8:06

Leo's intent back

8:09

on February 7, 2023 at about 6.25 in the evening. Using

8:17

the screen name Hey25, Leo

8:23

gets online, one

8:25

of the social media dating platforms.

8:29

And he starts chatting with someone who

8:32

will eventually identify himself as 13-year-old

8:34

Nathan. Leo

8:38

starts off, Hey, what's up? I'm

8:41

pretty laid back and looking for people to hang

8:43

out with. He sends

8:45

five selfie photographs.

8:49

He's wearing clothes. And

8:52

we can tell he's an adult male. Decoy

8:55

says, Not much. You?

8:58

Yeah. I could. How old

9:00

are you? Dang,

9:03

you look young, says Leo. I

9:06

just turned 25. LOL. Thanks.

9:10

Ha ha ha. Nothing much. Just

9:12

chilling in bed, bored, trying

9:15

to find something to do. You

9:18

got any picks? He asks. I'm

9:21

almost 14, says the decoy. Nathan,

9:24

I hope that's not too young for you. Oh,

9:28

well, do you care? Says

9:31

Leo. I'm cool with it

9:33

as long as you are. So

9:35

right up front in the

9:37

very first seconds of

9:39

the conversation, the decoy declares

9:43

the age. There's

9:45

no talk of sex yet. It's just hanging out. It's

9:48

creepy, but maybe

9:51

not yet illegal. Decoy

9:53

says I'm trying to upload pictures, but this thing

9:56

is slow AF. I

9:58

don't care if you don't care. Okay,

10:01

bet. Smiley face says

10:03

Leo. The

10:06

decoy sends a picture of a 13 year old boy. I don't

10:10

care if you don't care. Sounds good to

10:12

me. Kiss face emoji

10:15

says Leo. Later

10:17

the conversation continues what's your name? Asks

10:21

the decoy. My name

10:23

is Leo. You? Nathaniel. Call me

10:26

now. Where are you from? Lakeland

10:29

says Leo. You? What

10:32

brings you on here? My mom

10:34

is in some training here in Lakeland and

10:36

I'm bored and hungry. She

10:39

trippin. I don't know how long we'll be here.

10:41

Oh damn says Leo.

10:45

Leo says well anyway I can help.

10:47

I'm not doing anything at the moment.

10:51

How are you going to help? Says the decoy.

10:53

LOL. I can take you

10:55

so you can get food. Help

10:57

you kill some time. I

11:00

don't know. LOL. That

11:02

would be dope. Says

11:04

Nat. But my

11:06

mom just had some food delivered here in

11:08

my room. LOL.

11:11

Okay. Well I'm

11:13

always down to hang out too. Now

11:18

I have a hard time believing this

11:20

is just innocent chat on

11:23

this particular platform which

11:27

has been used historically for quick

11:30

hookups that

11:32

this 25 year old would just come

11:34

over just to quote unquote hang out. Yeah

11:39

same here says the decoy.

11:41

What is there to do? Honestly

11:44

not much says Leo. There's

11:47

a lot of parks and trails. Downtown

11:49

is nice along with a few lakes around here.

11:53

It's nice to just drive around at night

11:55

to be honest. I

11:58

drive for DoorDash when I'm bored. So

12:00

I see it all the time. Oh,

12:03

that's cool. Why don't drive

12:05

though, just to bring the point home

12:07

that he's underage. I

12:09

do says Leo. I can always pick you up and

12:11

we can go for a drive around Lakeland to

12:14

the beach wherever lol. Yeah,

12:17

that would be cool. What all do

12:19

you want to do says Leo. I'm

12:22

down for whatever you want to do says net.

12:25

Just got to tell me in advance. What are we

12:27

doing to get ready? And

12:30

here it comes Leo is now

12:32

going to introduce the idea of

12:35

physical and sexual contact. We

12:37

can cuddle if you want find a spot

12:39

around the lake layout and tunnel. If

12:42

it leads to more than I'm okay with that as

12:44

well. Oh Leo, you're okay with it. The

12:48

25 year old chatting with a 13

12:50

year old who

12:52

cannot give consent for

12:54

sexual contact. Or

12:57

if you're down for it, we can come back

12:59

to my place as long as everyone is asleep.

13:01

We can hang out, watch a

13:03

movie and go from there says

13:05

Leo. Like I said, I'm down to do anything

13:07

you want to do. He sends a kissy

13:10

emoji. I have

13:12

some weed too. If you smoke weed, could

13:14

I try last night to smoke? Then I gotta stop

13:17

till September for work. So

13:20

apparently, and we don't

13:22

know what his job is at this moment in the investigation,

13:25

but apparently he gets drug tested. Doesn't

13:29

want to have weed in his system. Nat

13:32

says, yeah, I'm game, but don't laugh at me.

13:35

But I've never done it with anyone. So I

13:37

don't know what you think about that. I

13:40

won't laugh at you. LOL.

13:44

I think that's cute. Hot. Then

13:47

he asks if the boy has Snapchat. Sends

13:51

two selfie style pictures, appearing

13:53

to depict the same guy, him.

13:57

And then there's a break in the conversation. What

14:00

do you want to hang out? Says Leo. Any

14:02

specific time you got to be back? No,

14:04

my mom don't pay attention, LOL. Leo

14:08

wants to meet on this very night. Says

14:12

he's got nothing to do. He

14:15

also says he's got four loco if

14:18

you want to drink. And

14:21

a small thing of Hennessy, the cognac. What

14:24

time he wants to know. I can go scoop whenever.

14:27

Dang, you're crazy. I'm only 13 though. I don't

14:29

really drink LOL. Just

14:32

to drive the point home yet again. Then

14:35

there's more

14:38

sexually explicit talk. We

14:41

can start kissing and making out, says Leo. We

14:44

can start touching up on each other. Cuddle up

14:46

for a bit. I can give you head if

14:48

you want. Make it feel really good and make

14:50

your leg shake. Devil

14:52

of Oji. The

14:54

boy says, yeah, sounds hot. I haven't given

14:56

head to anyone. You

14:59

can practice on me, says Leo. Then

15:02

Nat asks, what more do you want to do? Leo

15:05

says, I mean, I'm down to fuck if you want. I

15:09

mean, that's pretty clear. That's

15:12

unmistakable as to intent. More

15:17

about this predator I've caught in

15:19

a moment. The

15:23

decoy says, so I know you're trying to fuck, but I'm only

15:26

13. Are you sure you want to do

15:28

this? It's cool if you don't. There's

15:31

a chance for Leo to back out and do the

15:33

right thing. He's

15:35

getting ready to start what he considers

15:38

his dream job. But no, no, no.

15:41

What does Leo say? If

15:43

you don't want to, I understand. I'm down

15:45

though. So the

15:49

decoy gives Leo the address

15:51

of the location. There's

15:54

some phone calls back and forth. Logistics.

16:00

Leo's nervous as

16:03

he should be and here

16:05

he comes He

16:07

pulls his car a black Mitsubishi

16:10

into the parking lot He

16:13

gets out He walks

16:15

around He starts

16:17

to leave the

16:20

surveillance team Decides

16:22

to take him down now

16:27

Leo gets a little Scratched

16:29

up because he decides in the

16:32

moment to try to fight the

16:34

sheriff's Deputies trying to take

16:36

him into custody. He just doesn't give up. He

16:38

scrambles. He fights. He tries to get away and

16:42

They have to handcuff him on the ground So

16:45

by the time I see him, which is just you know

16:48

Less than an hour later. He's

16:50

still pretty scratched up. There's blood on his face

16:52

It looks worse than it is the

16:55

bases are loaded and Leo is on his

16:57

way to meet with who he thinks is

16:59

a 13 year old boy,

17:01

I'm here outside the door But

17:03

he's going to be very surprised

17:05

when sheriff's deputies apprehend him in

17:07

the parking lot after detectives speak

17:10

with Leo I'm next up

17:12

to the plate. Are you doing? I'm

17:16

sorry this this why you tell

17:19

me why you're this. I started a new job Got

17:22

everything straight for once Me

17:24

just being horny goes on

17:27

grinder Just I

17:29

was even gonna do it. I really just to myself Please

17:34

please don't

17:36

make some money fine Sorry

17:41

to pull in and I'm like I Was

17:45

really hesitant to out really wasn't gonna I

17:49

Didn't know I was honestly

17:51

just gonna go around track by and then just

17:53

leave Leo tries to Convinced

17:56

me that he really wasn't going to do anything. He

17:58

knew it was a bad idea he was

18:01

going to drive around and just leave but that doesn't

18:03

make sense to me. Why

18:06

get in the car and drive over there if you're

18:08

not going to go

18:10

through with what you discussed online. And

18:13

where is your new job? What

18:17

kind of a job is this? Now

18:19

he's contrite and again he's got

18:22

some blood on his nose and his cheek. The

18:25

sheriff's office wasn't really rough on him. He just

18:29

wasn't cooperative. He's

18:31

really sorry now

18:34

because he knows he's

18:37

in trouble with this new job. I asked him

18:39

what the job was and he's telling

18:42

me that he doesn't want to say so I

18:44

pursue it a little further. He

18:46

hints that it's on television. I'm

18:49

trying to find a way to say so I'm not too, too given

18:52

away. Media

18:55

I guess it's media. So

18:57

you work in radio, TV? Sometimes

19:00

on TV. So you're actually on TV? Here

19:03

and there. And what do you do on TV?

19:07

Do you do commercials? No. Do

19:09

you do the news or weather? I

19:12

just got an announcement honestly I'm very pushed off

19:14

of myself. I don't even know

19:16

if I can get out of this or if there

19:18

is a way because I really started like in a

19:20

month and I was literally supposed to

19:22

get a phone call I didn't meet. So you

19:24

were going to get a job like in television? Correct.

19:28

Correct. At this point I'm thinking

19:30

he's going to get some kind of a job

19:32

on television and

19:35

he's continuing to be cagey but I'm

19:37

thinking wow we've

19:40

just caught someone who

19:42

is in the media in my

19:44

business and this has happened before

19:46

it's never happened in our sting

19:48

operations but you see the occasional

19:50

television personality get caught up in this sort

19:52

of thing. As

19:55

I said in the beginning there's

19:57

no line of work apparently

19:59

immune. to this. But

20:02

I have no idea in the moment that

20:04

he's talking about being a baseball umpire, which

20:06

looking back, okay, they're sometimes on television if

20:08

the game is televised. And

20:12

it was somewhat ironic to me because we're

20:14

in Lakeland in Polk County. And

20:16

Lakeland is where

20:18

the Detroit Tigers have their spring training,

20:20

their spring league. And

20:23

I'm a Tigers fan, as you may know, growing

20:25

up in the Detroit area. And

20:28

I keep prying, trying

20:31

to figure out where in the media he works. And

20:34

I point out the irony that if in fact

20:36

he is going to

20:38

start in television in

20:41

a month, as he says, that

20:44

he's now on television with me, having

20:47

been caught in one of my investigations with

20:50

the Polk County Sheriff's Office. And

20:52

now you're on television with me because

20:56

you came to meet a 13 year old boy.

20:58

I was going, I wasn't

21:01

gonna actually gonna pick him up. Like I

21:03

was very skeptical and everything. I

21:05

even said that I

21:07

was there when I wasn't even there. I debated

21:10

and how did

21:13

this start? I was

21:15

horny at home. You were horny at

21:17

home. Horny at home, smoked a bull. I mean,

21:19

that's all I got. Horny

21:21

at home, smoked a bull, got him

21:23

in the mood. Already

21:26

setting the stage for

21:28

impaired judgment. You

21:30

have to explain it. Why a 25

21:33

year old guy who just got a

21:35

job apparently in television,

21:39

gets on Grindr, starts

21:41

chatting with someone who says they're a 13 year old boy

21:44

and then you come over here for sex.

21:46

And I wasn't, I was, I know, but

21:48

it's Leo, right? Right. I know that I,

21:50

what I wrote and everything, I even

21:53

erased the messages on accident and like

21:55

I even told myself that was a good thing. Just

21:57

don't even unblock, block so

21:59

much. Someone else, um,

22:01

then went to the unblocked list and saw

22:04

the name. I'm like, uh,

22:08

yeah, start talking. I'm bored.

22:10

I'm just going to talk.

22:13

Boredom. Sock. Horny.

22:16

None of those are legal defenses. We're trying

22:18

to have sex with a minor. Leo

22:21

tells me that only on one

22:23

other occasion did he communicate with someone underage,

22:25

a 16 year old whom

22:28

he blocked. After

22:30

a sexually charged conversation. What'd you talk

22:32

about? Oral sex. I want

22:35

to keep you say, you know, very

22:37

aggressive. Well, yeah. Cause I thought that's

22:39

what the person wants you to

22:41

the 13 year old boy wanted. I wasn't thinking

22:44

13 at the time. He made it very clear.

22:46

He was 13. You knew he said he was

22:48

thin. I was even telling myself like, this is

22:50

ridiculous. Don't don't do it. Now

22:52

this interview is taking place in a

22:55

mobile command center that belongs to the

22:57

Polk High Sheriff's office. And

23:01

Leo is being pretty cooperative

23:03

with me. And

23:06

I'll find out in just a few minutes here

23:08

that he actually knows who I

23:10

am. He's seen the

23:12

shows, the predator investigations I've done

23:15

over the years. And

23:17

he applauds my work. Help

23:19

me to understand where this

23:22

came from. Drive

23:24

to meet a 13 year

23:27

old boy for sex. I honestly,

23:29

at first it was just me being horny.

23:32

Just you being horny. Just me being. Was that

23:34

13 year old boy? I don't

23:36

know. Like, I live here and it's usually dry. So

23:41

meaning that there's not a lot of

23:43

people here, same people. He

23:46

says the area is quote unquote dry, meaning

23:48

there's not a lot of easily

23:51

accessible friends

23:53

who are gay, who he can meet online. Eh,

23:58

I don't know if I'd buy that. As

24:01

I mentioned, I wasn't sure at this

24:03

point if Leo knew

24:06

exactly who I was, but oh, he did all

24:08

right. If

24:11

what you've heard shocks you so far,

24:14

join us back in a moment. There's

24:19

something you need to know. I'm Chris Hanson.

24:21

I know. I've seen

24:23

it and I always say those guys are f****** come

24:25

back and say, look at me. That's

24:28

crazy. That's right. When

24:31

he's watched the previous episodes, he said, oh

24:34

my God, those guys are scumbags, f******

24:36

scumbags to use his precise language. And

24:39

now what does that make Leo? What

24:42

should happen to you? Honestly,

24:45

I really

24:48

didn't do anything wrong. Yes, I was talking to

24:50

someone about. You broke the law. And

24:54

I didn't know that just talking to

24:56

them would affect that. But

25:01

you, your

25:03

intent was to have said the people. Yes,

25:09

but I wasn't going to. I really wasn't.

25:11

I was not with a chance. No, you're

25:14

right. And the thing is that just the

25:16

talking, the dirty talk that does get me

25:18

off when I get me

25:20

off, I mean, it is exciting, I guess. But

25:23

that's with anyone. Whether they're

25:26

off. That's f******

25:29

bad. That's

25:31

f****** bad. What should happen to you? Honestly,

25:34

I really wish I could just be given

25:36

a second chance and I will never f******

25:39

run right now on my phone again. That's

25:41

not even worth it. Leo tells me

25:43

that he should

25:45

be given a second chance, that

25:48

he'll never offend again. Do

25:51

you think that's possible? Maybe.

25:54

I know he was scared. I

25:57

know he was sorry, at least sorry

25:59

he got close. But

26:02

what would have happened had there been a

26:04

13 year old boy alone and

26:07

Leo showed up with

26:10

weed, alcohol

26:13

in his state of

26:16

horniness. I

26:18

think you know what would happen. I think Leo knows

26:20

what would have happened. I

26:22

really did. Is

26:26

there anything else you want people to know? I

26:30

just don't know. I'm speechless. I'm sorry. I

26:34

really am sorry. It's not what it looks like I swear.

26:37

I just, I

26:39

literally just told my friend I'm not going to be making this stupid

26:41

decision. I've been looking what the f**k

26:43

I did. Like

26:47

I just want to be able to get out of this

26:49

and I know I won't be able to. I literally just

26:51

lost the best job in the whole world. I

26:58

don't even know what to do anymore. And

27:01

what's the lesson of this according to Leo? And

27:04

I know better than that. I'm,

27:06

you gotta f**king do it. Don't

27:09

f**king do it. Leo is

27:13

now coming to grips

27:15

with the fact that he really

27:19

messed up his life with the decision to

27:21

come over here. People

27:24

always ask, do you feel bad for some of the guys? Well

27:27

yeah, of course. I'm

27:29

human. But do

27:31

I think he would have harmed a child? Yes.

27:35

If not on this night, on another night. And

27:39

why do they do it? Some

27:42

of these guys, these

27:44

alleged predators, get

27:47

to a point where they need to

27:49

fulfill the fantasy. It's

27:51

an addiction. But

27:54

it's not an addiction that just

27:56

harms themselves. This is an

27:58

addiction. that has

28:01

the potential to alter

28:03

a child's life forever. And

28:08

so while sometimes I liken

28:10

this to a heroin addict

28:12

who will take the chance that there's

28:15

fentanyl in the heroin and they will

28:17

go by it anyway and use it, just

28:20

like predators know there's a chance they're

28:23

gonna walk into a sting, but they

28:25

do it anyway, the difference

28:27

with the heroin addict, they're only hurting themselves

28:29

for the most part. For

28:31

this kind of addict, the predator addict, they

28:34

have the potential to harm a child for life. And

28:38

that's a big distinction here. Now

28:41

after I

28:43

interviewed Leo, I

28:46

talked to Lieutenant Kirkpatrick, as

28:48

I mentioned earlier, and

28:51

he was shaken, truly

28:54

shaken, this man who's been in law enforcement

28:57

for a long time, seen

29:00

it all, done it all, shaken, that

29:04

someone with whom he worked doing

29:08

something so good for young people, kids,

29:11

umpiring baseball games, could end up in a sting

29:13

like this. Listen to a little bit of what

29:16

Lieutenant Kirkpatrick told me that night. This

29:20

latest predator, his

29:22

name was familiar to you. Explain

29:25

that. So one of

29:27

the guys that referenced that, they

29:30

thought he was somewhat familiar because they thought

29:32

that he had perhaps umpire officiated. I heard

29:34

that, I said, what's his name? And they

29:37

said, Leo. So wow, this is somebody who

29:39

I've known since, Leo was

29:41

15 years old at first, but certainly 16

29:43

years old, so it's shocking. I mean, we

29:45

never know who's gonna come in through the

29:47

door, we never know who's traveling to see

29:49

us, but this is somebody who

29:52

I officiated

29:54

high school baseball games with. Together we were

29:56

on the same field and yeah, I'm a

29:58

little bit of a fan. Well, taken aback

30:00

right now, just again baffled.

30:04

Did you ever suspect him of being

30:06

involved in any kind of activity like

30:08

this? Absolutely not. He was, I'm just

30:10

saying, this is always a very jovial, you know,

30:14

good-hearted kid. Does it worry you

30:16

that somebody who's capable of trying

30:18

to connect with a 13-year-old boy

30:20

for sex is working with kids?

30:22

That's the very unfortunate thing, because

30:25

again, it makes you

30:27

wonder, did he have deviant

30:29

thoughts or alternative, you

30:31

know, motives when he

30:33

was out there officiating the games? I know

30:35

he had a passion for baseball, but

30:38

again, did he really have ulterior motives and what

30:40

his intentions were? Perhaps Polk

30:42

County Sheriff Grady Judd summed

30:44

this case up best at

30:47

a news conference announcing the

30:49

results of the sting. But

30:52

let me introduce you to some of the

30:54

people that we arrested. For

30:57

example, here's Leo

31:00

Centron, he's from Lakeland. His

31:04

claim to fame, according to him, is

31:06

he's an umpire. He's umpired

31:08

high school games, college,

31:12

D1, division one, division two.

31:15

He wants to be a professional umpire.

31:18

He claims to have umpired or

31:21

some of these, what I

31:23

would call farm league

31:25

professionals. He

31:27

traveled to meet a 13, what he felt was

31:30

a 13-year-old male. After

31:34

grooming online, he

31:37

too was very graphic. He

31:39

lives with his parents, and

31:42

now he's charged with significant crimes. He

31:44

bonded out of jail. This

31:47

is a nasty, nasty guy. Nasty,

31:50

nasty guy. Leo

31:54

was charged with traveling to meet after

31:57

using a computer to lure

31:59

a child. attempted

32:02

lewd and lascivious battery,

32:05

attempting to engage insects

32:07

with a minor, and

32:10

unlawful use of a computer. Leo

32:14

has pleaded not guilty and

32:17

is due back in court in

32:19

late May. We will

32:22

keep you posted. More

32:25

of our story in a moment. As

32:31

always, I like to

32:33

hear from you. And

32:35

this week's question comes from Caleb Varga

32:38

in Nashville. Hi,

32:41

Chris. This is Caleb from Nashville, Tennessee,

32:43

but I'm originally from Connecticut. My

32:45

question for you today is in regards

32:47

to the transcripts. When

32:50

you present the transcripts to

32:54

predators, I've

32:56

noticed that a lot of them

32:58

will completely turn around the

33:02

chat and say that it's

33:04

something completely different. Jeff Sokol and Michael Gentile are the

33:06

first people that come to mind in my head where

33:10

they'll make up something that is

33:12

completely untrue and false.

33:14

But Gentile specifically, he

33:16

was saying how it was a 30-year-old role

33:20

playing to be a minor when that was nowhere

33:22

in the chat. And he stuck

33:24

to that story to the very end. And

33:26

it doesn't make a lot of sense to me how when

33:30

provided with those transcripts, that

33:32

they still stick to their story no

33:35

matter what, even though you have the proof. Same

33:37

thing with Jeff Sokol. He was

33:40

denying absolutely everything you said, even

33:43

though it's right there. And

33:45

those are just the first two of many that

33:47

come to my head. I'm really curious

33:50

what you think and how they

33:53

think sticking to their story is really going to work

33:56

out for them. Thank

33:58

you so much for listening. And

34:00

if you ever find yourself in Nashville, I would absolutely

34:02

love to take you out for some hot chicken and

34:05

maybe catch a Predators game. Thanks Chris. Love what

34:07

you're doing. Keep it up. Thank

34:10

you Caleb. It's a

34:12

great question. The

34:14

crime almost always is

34:17

committed initially in the chats,

34:19

in the transcripts. And

34:22

those are the alleged Predator's

34:25

own words. But

34:28

to your point Caleb, I think that

34:31

these guys in many cases before they

34:33

arrive at the stinghouse or the location,

34:36

they've already thought through what is

34:39

going to happen if

34:41

they get caught. If this is a sting, if

34:44

it's law enforcement, if I'm

34:46

there, what am I

34:48

going to say? Here's

34:51

what I really meant. And

34:53

they create their own alternate

34:55

reality to justify

34:57

in their own mind. Now they know the

35:00

difference between right and wrong. They know this

35:02

is wrong intellectually. But they

35:04

have this inner drive,

35:06

this fantasy, this need to fulfill

35:10

that involves having sex with a child.

35:14

And so they fix their own reality

35:18

around fulfilling that need.

35:22

And so if it's to have a

35:24

marriage contract like Jeff Sokol did that

35:27

in his own mind somehow

35:30

made this legal. If

35:32

it's one of the Predators saying,

35:35

oh this is just role playing. If

35:39

that's the case, then why not just say, I need

35:43

proof you're actually 30 and not a child.

35:46

If you're so concerned about the child that you would

35:48

show up, why not call 911, Child Services? I'm

35:53

sure they'd be glad to respond

35:56

to concerns about a teenager, home

35:58

alone, open to the outside. Idiot

36:00

Sex. But. The

36:02

Transcripts Of The Transcripts. Proof.

36:06

Evidence. Strong

36:08

evidence. Hard

36:10

to refute. In

36:13

a courtroom? Thank

36:15

you Caleb! Naturals, A

36:17

great town. I will actually be

36:19

in Nashville at the end of

36:21

May early June for crime com.

36:24

Which. Is a huge annual event.

36:28

That. Goes from city to city. Where.

36:31

Fans of. Crime. Contents:

36:34

Crime stories, Podcasts and content

36:36

creators and members of law

36:39

enforcement all converge. In

36:42

a three day event. You

36:45

can check it out online. Crime Khan. Very

36:48

cool. Great way to

36:50

connect with people who consume our content.

36:54

As for the hot chicken? That

36:56

sounds pretty good. Some

36:59

barbecue to think it's yellow. As

37:02

always you can find me

37:04

on instagram. At official

37:07

Chris Hansen acts. And.

37:09

Chris Hansen. Tic

37:12

toc. Have a seat with

37:14

Chris Hansen. Cameo should

37:16

you desire? And

37:18

on my streaming crime network

37:21

through Blue. T Are

37:23

you beale you want to lose.com

37:25

for details. New.

37:28

Predator Investigations. One.

37:30

Just out. From

37:32

our sting in Alabama with the Blood County

37:35

Sheriff's Office. Where

37:37

we heard an excuse from a predator

37:39

I have never heard before as to

37:41

why he couldn't have actually had sex

37:43

with a child. Watch

37:46

the segment but. She.

37:49

Essentially tells me that after

37:51

everything is over. The

37:53

My Interview: After the initial interview with

37:55

law enforcement, he tells me that he

37:57

couldn't have done a thing because he

37:59

shot himself in the penis while cleaning

38:01

his gun. Check out the details. And

38:06

as always. You

38:09

can reach me right here and

38:11

Chris A Predator podcast.com I'll be

38:13

watching and listening.