Ada County Sheriff’s detectives arrested a 42-year-old Canadian man Friday afternoon who arranged to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex at a local parking lot but found deputies waiting for him instead.
Turns out the girl John R. Jones was exchanging messages with for the last week was actually an ACSO detective.
The 42-year-old Jones, who is from Chilliwack, British Columbia, is charged with a felony count of enticement of children over the internet.
Detectives began their investigation of Jones last week after he posted a Craigslist ad that indicated he was soliciting sex from teenage girls in Boise.
A detective answered the ad and said he was a 14-year-old girl. The two began exchanging messages, which became sexual in nature.
Jones made arrangements to meet the “girl” Friday afternoon in a parking lot near the Overland/Cole roads intersection. Deputies arrested Jones when he showed up at the meeting place.
Jones will make his initial court appearance Monday afternoon.
The crime of enticement of children over the internet is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
The Ada County Sheriff’s detective in charge of the case works with the Idaho Crimes Against Children Task Force, a statewide coalition of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies focused on apprehending and prosecuting people who use the internet to criminally exploit children.