STATEN ISLAND MAN CAUGHT IN STING OPERATION AND CHARGED WITH SOLICITING SEX WITH A “13 YEAR OLD GIRL” THROUGH AN INTERNET CHATROOM

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a 54 year old Staten Island man has been arrested and charged with attempting to have sexual relations with a “13 year old girl” whom the defendant met in an Internet chat room.

Harold Davis, of 451 Willow Road East, Staten Island, was charged with Attempted Promoting a Sexual Performance by a Child, a Class E felony offense punishable by a maximum sentence of up to four years imprisonment, Attempted Disseminating Indecent Material to minors in the 1st degree, also a Class E felony offense, Attempted Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a Class B Misdemeanor offense punishable by a maximum sentence of up to sixty days in jail, and Criminal Possession of a weapon in the 4th degree, a class “A” misdemeanor offense.

Davis was arrested by Detective Investigators from the Bronx District Attorney’s Office after arranging to meet “the girl” in the vicinity of Yankee Stadium, then proceed to a motel for the purpose of having sex with “her”. Investigators confiscated a gravity knife, two dozen roses and a digital video camera that were in the defendant’s possession at the time of his arrest.

The arrest was the culmination of a series of conversations between the defendant and a Detective Investigator from the Bronx District Attorney’s Office who met the defendant in an Internet chat room while pretending to be a thirteen year old girl. During their chats, the defendant allegedly made it clear that he wanted to have sexual relations with the person he believed to be a minor and even described specific sexual acts that he wanted to perform.

During the course of the investigation, the undercover detective arranged to meet with the defendant for the express purpose of having sex. Davis, who used the screen name Drluvhsdnyc, first initiated conversation with the undercover detective and began making sexual advances in an Internet chat room entitled “I like older men”.

This arrest is the result of an ongoing initiative of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The Bronx District Attorney’s Office is part of a satellite task force that is funded by a grant from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Robert Bergida of the Investigations Division.