Being Wrongfully Accused of Underage Sexual Activity

[abestos]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: New York.

I am a bisexual male still in the closet and I'm being threatened with a scary situation here. I engaged in email exchanges with a person who claimed I responded to his Craigslist post from last year and wanted to meet up (the minimum age to post is 18). We exchanged photos and IMs and in one of our IM conversations he said he was 25. A few days later, he said he was under 17 and will turn 17 in 2 months (legal age of consent in NY as far as I know). I have not met up with him since but have remained in IM contact. I told him explicitly I cannot meet him until he is legal and he cannot send me any more photos. I have NOT met up with him.

Today, on IM, he tried to get me to meet up with him. He says his mom is going to the police. When I reiterated I cannot meet up with him, he went to insinuate that I engaged in oral and anal sex with him and that he is going to tell his mom. I am really freaked out now as I have done nothing but am put in a very precarious position. Furthermore, I am not out to anyone in my social circles. What can I do? How worried should I be legally (and also my anonymity)? I know sex offenders are taken seriously but how about falsely accused sex offenders?

[jk]

you should have broken off communications with him once you discovered he was under 17. The problem is, often times (and I haven't checked the laws in your state) make even lewd conversations with an underage person illegal.

so, about all you can do is let him threaten and if he calls the police, defend yourself. I would suggest that if you are contacted by the police you do not say ANYTHING without first speaking with a lawyer.

and cut off all communications with the kid.


your anonymity is your problem and it should be the least of your concerns. There is nothing the law can help you with there.

Oh, and the pictures; definitely a problem.

[abestos]

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm really nervous now.

I have ended conversations with him. I have deleted the pictures too, but he stated he was 25 AFTER he sent it to me. I still have the IM log for that. Does that count for anything? He only suddenly switched his stance and said he was under 17 after the pics exchange. I never sent him anything after. I never met up with him although he "insists" we have and even engaged in sexual activity.

I'm really worried as this could destroy my life.

Should I go find a lawyer right now?

[jk]

keep the IM log and deleting something from your hardrive doesn't really remove the data. It merely removes the markers or tags the computer uses to find that specific data until that sector. Until is overwritten enough times to fully corrupt the original data, it can be recovered by those trained to find such data.

It wouldn't hurt to consult with a lawyer at this time. While it sounds like you didn't do anything as you explain it, obviously, when he tells it, it will sound quite differently and you would have to defend yourself. Better to be prepared should he actually call the police.

[abestos]

I have contacted local lawyers for consultation. Thanks for advice.

One strange thing that has been bothering me... In his first intro email, he mentioned that I replied to his post last year but was on vacation at a specific location. Checking back on all my logs, there was only one person I responded with that specific information - from a different town 45 min away. The pics and information of the earlier guy was different but he used similar baiting tactics. I might be reading too much into this but something seems a little fishy around here.

[jk]

maybe it's a sting. Maybe it's some guy wanting to extort money from you. Maybe it's somebody that knows you and is toying with you. With any luck, you won't actually find out.

and you contacted lawyers at midnight? talk about something sounding fishy.

[abestos]

Oh no. I forgot to mention this, I am 28. I initially thought he was 25. I know I shouldn't trust online age, but I guess I was caught off guard as I didn't expect someone underaged. I would never do that if I were underaged.

Is it really fishy if I emailed them to set up an appointment late at night? I figured I should try to meet to get advice as soon as possible. This "boy" only started spinning his story several hours back tonight.

[jk]

abestos;502286]Oh no. I forgot to mention this, I am 28. I initially thought he was 25. I know I shouldn't trust online age, but I guess I was caught off guard as I didn't expect someone underaged. I would never do that if I were underaged.

I think you saw the post that I edited. I misread where you were saying how old this kid as and due to my fatigue, I read the "17 in 2 months" as your age. My mistake so I edited it out.

Is it really fishy if I emailed them to set up an appointment late at night? I figured I should try to meet to get advice as soon as possible. This "boy" only started spinning his story several hours back tonight.

It just seems odd trying to contact anybody in the middle of the night, unless you already have a relationship with a lawyer. Then it would make more sense. Maybe I'm just old but I figure a phone contact would be how to contact a lawyer.

[abestos]

Yeah I saw your earlier post.
I'm really scared now. I really should have just stopped chatting. It's sad that a slip like that could potentially ruin my life even though I tried to keep him away. I can only hope and pray for the best now and meet with an attorney to deal with this. Nevertheless, thank you for your advice. I know better the gravity and reality of the situation I am in right now.

[jk]

Being scared will do you no good. If you did nothing wrong, as long as the system doesn't fail you, you should come out ok. Speak with a lawyer to see if there is anything you should do proactively that would help. If there isn't, all you can do is wait to see if this guy is just blowing smoke or not.