A 24-year-old man from Gibsonia, Allegheny County, Adam Lee Carey, who allegedly came to Tyrone last week seeking sex with a person he believed was a 13-year-old girl was bound on all charges yesterday in district court.
Magisterial District Judge Fred Miller told The Daily Herald that Carey’s preliminary hearing was held as scheduled yesterday. Carey was represented by private counsel. Carey will now face charges in Blair County Court as a result of Judge Miller’s ruling that the case should proceed to the next level.
Carey allegedly came to Tyrone on Oct. 10 after conversations in an internet chat room with a person using the screen name “i am sweet tara.” In reality, “sweet tara” was Tyrone Borough Councilman William Latchford.
According to a police criminal complaint, Latchford created an on-line persona of a 13-year-old girl and Carey allegedly engaged in conversations with “sweet tara” over the internet that included graphic and sexual references.
Latchford told police about the chat room conversations, which allegedly happened on Oct. 8. He turned over a log of the conversations and informed police about a planned meeting at the Pizza Hut in Tyrone. Carey provided a description of the car he would be driving in the message and set up a meeting time at the restaurant.
An additional message regarding the meeting was sent to Latchford and he turned the information over to police the afternoon of Oct. 10. Tyrone Police then went to the Pizza Hut in an unmarked car and observed a car fitting the description of the one Carey said he would be using in a parking lot near the Pizza Hut.
Carey was arrested after a felony traffic stop and given his rights and answered questions about the on-line conversations. Police also found evidence including a box of condoms bought shortly before his planned rendezvous with the “girl”.
Last week, Latchford told The Daily Herald, “After watching the NBC Dateline series ‘To Catch A Predator’ and viewing the content located at Perverted-Justice.com, I felt a need to show people in our town that our children were not safe from this particular crime.”
The police criminal complaint filed against Carey explained that Latchford and Police Chief Joseph Beachem had talked about being proactive regarding internet child predators prior to Latchford creating his on-line persona.
Carey was charged with criminal use of a communication facility, attempted involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, attempted unlawful contact with a minor and attempted statutory sexual assault. All the crimes are felonies.
Bail was set at $75,000, 10 percent. Carey posted the 10 percent ($7,500) last Thursday. Judge Miller placed additional conditions on Carey last week when he posted the money.
After his preliminary hearing, Carey remained free on bail. In addition to normal conditions of bail, Carey can remain free provided he is not arrested on new charges, he can’t leave the state without court approval, he can’t use a computer or access an internet chat room in any other way and he is not allowed to be in the presence of a person under 18 unless an adult over the age of 18 is present.
