Sex: June 2009 Archives

Raphael Jakim was convicted this afternoon of one count of attending an arranged meeting with a minor with the intent to commit a sexual offense. The Simi Valley married father traveled to Redondo Beach to meet a 13-year-old girl that was really Torrance Detective Dennis Brady.

Brady, the father of his own teenage daughter, was sure to punctuate his online chat with some well-placed kid verbage, including the word "like" and talk about the mall. It was hard imagining the burly, mustachioed police officer participating in a girlie talk. But, it apparently worked, for he caught the predator.

Jakim, who was out on bail, was taken into custody without bail pending his sentencing hearing Friday.

In beginning her closing argument Monday in Raphael Jakim's trial for allegedly meeting a minor for sex, Deputy District Attorney Delanee Hicks told the jury that the Internet offers many valuable opportunities - like making restaurant reservations, buying airline tickets and social networking. But it also gives pedophiles many ways to contact and groom their vulnerable victims anonymously and under the radar, she said, making online predators very hard to catch.

Hicks compared the "old" ways pedophiles operated versus the "new." The old way involved lines like, "Hey little girl, would you like some candy?" or "Hey little boy, I lost my dog. Can you help me find my dog?"

But because the new way makes it easy for child predators to find kids and even establish relationships with them with a few key strokes, the Internet needs a new way to fight crime.

Jakim's case is the result of a sting that was conducted by Torrance Detective Dennis Brady, who is a member of the Interent Crimes Against Children task force. If you've ever watched Dateline NBC's - To Catch A Predator, you have a pretty good idea how that works. To find out more about how to keep kids safe online, check out these useful sites:

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's NetSmartz411

The Los Angeles District Attorney's Protecting Our Kids page

The jury in Jakim's trial resumes deliberations this afternoon.