Continue for the disturbing story of the Pierce sting, including photos, video and the original (and shockingly graphic) arrest affidavit.
On December 31 of last yeaer, according to the aforementioned affidavit, provided by the First Judicial District DA's office, Lakewood Police Department Investigator Mike Harris, assigned to the Crimes Against Children unit, was online portraying a girl younger than fifteen when he was greeted with an instant message from someone identified as "scrapbucket."
The next day, scrapbucket provided an e-mail address allegedly belonging to Pierce.The initial conversation between Pierce and the "girl" was creepy but lacked explicit language: Sample comments included "do you like older guys" and "i like young girls like you." But the exchanges soon escalated to requests for a nude photo and remarks such as "I dont care if its against the law" and "you the only [stated age of teen] that didnt think I ws a perv."
Harris presumably did. He soon traced Pierce to a home address of 442 Morrison Camp Ground Road NE in Rome, Georgia and discovered a criminal record capable of inspiring shudders.
The affidavit notes that Pierce was arrested in 1991 for "Literal Rape, Sodomy and Child Molestation," with 7News reporting that the victim was a three-year-old boy.
Pierce was convicted of the crime the following year, earning a sentence of five years behind bars and fifteen years' worth of probation. But he violated his probation in 2006, failed to register as a sex offender in 2007 and allegedly violated probation again in late 2012. As a result, he was reportedly required to wear an ankle monitor.Despite the presence of Pierce's tracker, he wasn't confined to his home. Indeed, Georgia law allows people in his situation to travel out of state. And in his communication with the fictional Colorado teen, he made it clear he wanted to do so -- and a lot of other things, too.
Continue for more about the arrest of James Lee Pierce, including a video and the original arrest affidavit.