James Edward Hall convicted after FBI sting operation
Hall, 51, responded to a classified ad which used language associated with those seeking to exploit children last March. This flagged him to the FBI who began investigating. Hall began communicating with the person who placed the ad who claimed to have an 8-year old daughter to entice Hall.
Hall discussed sex acts with children and Hall asked for pornographic content to be sent to him. Hall claimed to have abused his own daughter in the conversations. He was arrested and it was revealed that he had been speaking to an undercover FBI agent who was operating a sting against him.
During the trial, Hall’s daughter claimed he never abused her, and Hall claimed to have been running his own sting operation, using similar methods as the undercover agent. He also claimed that the photos of children in swimsuits sent to the undercover agent were ones he found on Facebook and not of his abuse victims. However, there is no evidence that Hall ever contacted the police regarding the suspicions he had.
Hall was convicted of one count of attempted production of child pornography, two counts of attempted receipt of child pornography, and one count of attempted enticement of a minor. The jury deliberated for two hours prior to the conviction.
