A 33-year-old man caught trolling the Internet for teen-age girls got off with a suspended sentence, Tuesday, in Fairfax County. But that's because authorities here knew that, when he returns home to New Jersey, he's headed to prison.
The man is John Benjamin Desper of 38 Franklin St., Swedesboro Township, N.J., and last summer a Fairfax County police detective nabbed him in a sting operation. Tuesday morning in Circuit Court, he pleaded guilty to using a computer to solicit sex from someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl.
Before Judge David Stitt accepted his plea, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Penny Azcarate provided details of the case against Desper, had it gone to trial. She said Desper made contact with police Det. Lewis Barrickman who, working undercover, was in an Internet chat room posing as a 13-year-old girl named Jen, of Centreville
"He logged on and waited for people to contact him," said Azcarate. "Between Jan. 30 and June 28, 2002, the defendant contacted Jen via Instant Messaging. He did it from both his home and office in New Jersey." Desper was employed as a computer systems administrator for Gloucester County Communications.
Eventually, said the prosecutor, he told the young "girl" exactly what he wanted of her. "He asked Jen if he could photograph her without clothes, and he solicited her for intercourse," said Azcarate. "The defendant set up a meeting with her, but it never occurred because he was arrested at his office in New Jersey on the day of the meeting."
The assignation was to have been in Centreville on June 28, 2002. Instead, by July 2, Desper was ensconced in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. Police charged him with using a communications system to solicit a minor for certain offenses.
On Jan. 15 in General District Court, Judge Mark Simmons certified his case to the grand jury. Six days later, on Jan. 21, the grand jury indicted Desper, and he returned Tuesday for sentencing.
Azcarate told the judge that the Commonwealth had accepted a plea agreement in this case because on Sept. 19 in New Jersey, Desper will be sentenced to three years in the penitentiary on charges of possession of child pornography and "official misconduct" involving the use of his office computer for illegal activities.
Desper chose not to say anything on his behalf, prior to sentencing here, and he also waived the usual presentencing report. Judge Stitt then sentenced him to two years in prison, suspending all that time, and placed him on two years probation — which he said may be transferred to New Jersey. He also ordered a DNA sample taken from Desper to be included in the Virginia data bank for convicted felons.
Afterward, defense attorney Fred Sinclair said he was pleased with the outcome. "The sentence reflects what [actually] happened," he said. "There was no travel [to meet the 'girl'], so the sentence, in my opinion, didn't warrant incarceration, just probation."
Sinclair said Desper is single, and his family is standing by him. Added the attorney: "He's currently beting treated for his Internet addiction to this world of fantasy."