A Bradford man was sentenced Friday in Erie County Court to
serve 40 to 120 months in the custody of the state Department of
Corrections for attempting to sexually solicit what he believed was
a 13-year-old girl over the Internet.
James Whitman, 47, of Corwin Lane, Foster Township, was captured
in Erie Dec. 1 by agents with the Attorney General’s Child Predator
Unit and by Erie police.
Whitman had been engaging in sexually explicit chats with the
“girl,” actually a Child Predator Agent, beginning in November. He
had sent graphic photos of himself as well, according to court
records.
Whitman had set up a meeting with the “girl” in Erie on Dec. 1.
He was arrested when he arrived at the designated location.
Whitman pleaded guilty in March to charges of attempted unlawful
contact with a minor and criminal use of a communication
facility.
On Friday, Nils Frederiksen of the AG’s press office explained
other terms of Whitman’s sentence.
“He’ll also be required to register with Pennsylvania Megan’s
Law for 10 years following his release,” Frederiksen said, adding
that Whitman will also have to pay court costs and the costs of his
prosecution. He was also given credit for the jail time he has
served since his arrest on Dec. 1.
“Obviously we’re very pleased with the judge’s order,”
Frederiksen said. “These are individuals who have shown an interest
to have sexual contact with children. Society has made it clear we
won’t tolerate that.”
Frederiksen said 79 arrests have been made by the Child Predator
Unit to date.
“The pace has been picking up over the past few weeks,” he said.
“There are people out there looking forward to summer for totally
different reasons.”
He explained that Internet sex predators know children are out
of school for the summer and are likely unsupervised while
online.
“It’s very important now for your child … if you haven’t had a
talk with your child about Internet predators, have a chat about
the dangers of posting details of your personal life on Myspace or
Facebook,” Frederiksen said.
Frederiksen warned that children ages 12 to 14 are the highest
risk group and should be warned about the dangers of attempting to
meet anyone from the Internet face to face.
“We also know there are a lot of children who are approached
online and never tell anyone about it,” he said. “The children
haven’t done anything wrong. It’s the adult on the other end who
has done something wrong.”
With the anonymity that the Internet offers and the availability
of portable technology, one never knows where a predator might be
lurking.
“They are looking for victims, and we are out there looking for
them,” he said. “They don’t have to hang around playgrounds
anymore.”
(WSEE TV in Erie contributed to this report.)
