• Conviction - derbear72 - Grand Rapids, Michigan

    - Chatlog Conviction -
    File originally posted on 10/30/2009 7:50 PM PST [Link to File]
    Report made 10/30/2009 7:50 PM PST

    derbear72 (10/11/08 8:00:44 PM): what are you doing
    cosmic.nothingness (10/11/08 8:00:59 PM): trying to read romeo and juliet for school but it's boring
    cosmic.nothingness (10/11/08 8:01:10 PM): i know how it ends. they die. the end :p
    derbear72 (10/11/08 8:01:32 PM): lol, its a great book actually
    cosmic.nothingness (10/11/08 8:01:56 PM): everyone says it's a love story but how can it be a love story when they die?
    derbear72 (10/11/08 8:03:01 PM): well you will have to read it all and find out
    derbear72 (10/11/08 8:03:26 PM): but it really is talks about the true love that can be shown
    cosmic.nothingness (10/11/08 8:03:51 PM): i guess
    cosmic.nothingness (10/11/08 8:04:00 PM): it just seems dumb to have them die in the end
    derbear72 (10/11/08 8:04:17 PM): do you know how they die?
    cosmic.nothingness (10/11/08 8:04:27 PM): yeah they kill themselves
    derbear72 (10/11/08 8:04:38 PM): lol, but why and how?
    cosmic.nothingness (10/11/08 8:04:48 PM): well that part i don't know yet lol
    derbear72 (10/11/08 8:05:07 PM): lol, ok when you get to that it will make since promise
    Nothing like a predator who moonlights as a teacher of literature.

    This chat is a great example of why Michigan's style of solicitation and online sex crime laws are the proper ones to have. Derek Slate had every intention of showing up to molest a child, and if the official bust house had been open for a different weekend, it was very likely that he would have shown. However, he could not change his visitation schedule with his son, and therefore he couldn't make it. He was still guilty of a crime, however, and Michigan enforced that.

    He pled guilty and received 8 months in jail, five years probation, a couple of thousand in fines, and he must register as a sex offender.

    Contributor notes from Maxwell House

    Derek Slate wanted to meet a 14 year old girl for sex. Plain and simple. He wanted to introduce a child to anal sex, and he wanted to \"shove my cock down your throat.\" Lovely, no? He did not show up at our Grand Rapids sting for one reason - visitation with his minor child. Fortunately, the folks with the Michigan Attorney General's Office take this type of crime seriously, and Derek Slate was arrested for his activities.

    I did travel to MI to testify at his preliminary hearing, and ended up not having to testify at all. His attorney did not wish to have the chat read into the record (imagine that!), and stipulated that the chat was correct as recorded. After the judge ruled that there was probable cause to believe Slate committed the crimes of which he was accused, Slate quickly accepted a plea agreement.

    Slate's activities online earned him 8 months in jail with 5 years probation, and he was ordered to register as a sex offender. My thanks to the Michigan Attorney General's Office, as well as the Kent County Sheriff's Department.


    This is our 359th conviction since June of 2004, our 55th conviction for 2009, and our 31st conviction in Michigan thus far.