Now that's not a request we see every day. But, Jared Michael Manuel wasn't your everyday predator. Manuel made contact with what he thought was a 14-year-old child online, was quite graphic in his chat, and then showed up to meet the child for sex. Instead of a child, he'd been chatting with retired Contributor Starburst, and met law enforcement when he showed up for sex with the decoy child.

Manuel is no stranger to the justice system. In the past he'd been charged with DUI, but that charge was dismissed. In 2010 he was accused of raping an underage teen at Peavey Park in Enterprise, AL. He was arrested and charged with second degree rape, but the charge was dismissed when the victim could not be located. He had also been previously arrested for felony third-degree burglary more than once, during which one charge was dropped and in the other case the jury found him not guilty. He also previously pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor third degree charge for stolen property.

In April 2014, just three months before his chat with Starburst, Manuel was arrested and charged with 7 crimes involving prescription medications.

Manuel was convicted in March of 2015 on the charges of felony electronic solicitation of a child and transmitting obscene material to a child and traveling to meet a child for an unlawful sex act. He received a sentence of six years in prison, suspended, and two years of probation. He also had to register as a sex offender.

In June of 2015, Manuel was arrested on a charge of failure to register as a convicted sex offender.

In August of 2015, Manuel pleaded guilty to the drug charges and was sentenced to eight years on each charge, to be served concurrently, but that was suspended and he was allowed into a diversion program.

In October of 2015, he was denied probation on the drug charges and ordered to serve 18 months in the Alabama Department of Corrections.

Manuel was also sentenced for failure to register as a sex offender, and is currently residing in the Kilby Correctional Facility, a medium security facility. He was sentenced to a year and a half on each of the controlled substances charges, six years on soliciting a child by computer, six years on transmitting obscene material to a child, and 15 years for violation of the sex offender registration law, all to run concurrently.

We hope Jared Michael Manuel enjoys his stay.


This is our 621st conviction since June of 2004.