Man Arrested After Soliciting Teen Sex Over Internet, Authorities Say

Mar 22, 2000 - 04:19 AM
The Associated Press

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) - A man who allegedly had sex up to 70 times with a teenager was arrested after he used the Internet to arrange a sexual encounter with a police officer posing as a 15-year-old boy, authorities said.

Daniel Sandler, 35, of Parkland, was arrested when he arrived at a Burger King parking lot with a 16-year-old former neighbor, St. Lucie County sheriff's deputies said.

They were there for a three-way sexual encounter with "15M Port St. Lucie," the alias the detective used when he exchanged messages with Sandler in an America Online chat room, deputies said in an affidavit. The name is shorthand to indicate the writer's age, gender and location.

After his arrest Monday, Sandler told detectives he had been having sex with his former neighbor since the boy was 13 and that even after the boy moved to Kansas two years ago, the teen would fly back to Florida to visit him, authorities said.

The investigation began Feb. 24 when a writer named "Sneaky12" began exchanging messages with the undercover detective.

On Sunday, Sandler told the detective in an electronic message that he has tons of photographs with the former neighbor and it would be difficult to find many that "aren't XXX," authorities said. Sandler suggested that the three have sex and agreed to meet at the Burger King, detectives said.

Sandler is charged with using the Internet to solicit sexual conduct, aggravated child abuse and sexual performance of a child. He was being held Tuesday at the St. Lucie County jail in lieu of $300,000 bail.

Port St. Lucie is locate on Florida's Atlantic coast about 85 miles north of Fort Lauderdale.

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