Man arrested in sex sting gets 30 days

NOV 28, 2006

GREENVILLE, Ohio - A Findlay man arrested after making arrangements to meet a young girl for sex was sentenced yesterday to 30 days in jail and ordered to complete sex-offender counseling.

Jay Reffner, 31, pleaded guilty in October in Darke County Common Pleas Court to one count of attempted sexual conduct with a minor.

In addition to jail, Judge Jonathan Hein sentenced him to two years' community control and ordered him to complete 40 hours of community service.

He was one of 17 men arrested in Darke County in March as part of a sting operation targeting Internet predators. The sting was televised as part of Dateline NBC's "To Catch a Predator" series.

Greenville is about 35 miles northwest of Dayton.



He’s a computer specialist at a university who shows up at our rural Ohio house after making a date to meet a 15-year-old girl who said she was a virgin. But instead of meeting her, I walk into the room. He’s sweaty, nervous and says he’s no pedophile. Later, when I ask him if he brought anything, he admits he has condoms with him. Moments after Reffner walks out of our undercover house he’s arrested. And it’s not until then that we find out some very interesting things about his background. He tells detectives his father is actually a police officer and his mother is a prosecutor in a nearby community. Reffner’s mother will actually represent him when he appears in court.



A 30-year-old, screenname “Meatrocket8,” starts chatting online with a girl posing as a 15-year-old virgin. The decoy referring to her virginity says “I bet you’re scared of that.”

“Meatrocket8” says, “Actually you find it quite attractive. I’m honored to be considered the candidate for your first time.” Later as the chat gets more graphic, he asks for her address.

A decoy pretending to be the young girl waves him in. The decoy is really a member of an online watchdog group, Perverted-Justice, which we hired to do what they normally do: go into chat rooms, and set up computer profiles, pretending to be young teens who are interested in sex.

‘Meatrocket8’ (on hidden camera): I feel like a dumb ass I couldn’t find the house.Decoy: That’s okay it’s kind of weird to find cause it’s on the corner and stuff.

But instead of being greeted by a child, he meets me. Like most of the men who come in the door, this man agrees to talk. He may think I’m a cop. At first I don’t tell him who I am and of course he doesn’t know our hidden cameras are rolling.

Chris Hansen, Dateline correspondent (walks in): How are you?“Meatrocket8” or Jay Reffner: I’m doing good what can I do for you?

Turns out “meatrocket8” is Jay Reffner, a computer specialist at a university, is a married man with children.

Reffner: I got a family at home and I love them dearly you know.Hansen: You have kids?Reffner: Yes Hansen: How old are your kids?Reffner: I have one daughter and 2 step sons from my wife’s previous marriage.

He says he’s not a pedophile. He’s here to kick back relax and have fun.

Hansen: Did you bring anything with you tonight? Reffner: Such as?Hansen: Condoms?Reffner: Yes, I did.Hansen: So you were just gonna kick back and chat and just in case something happened you brought condoms?Reffner: I just wanted to talk.Hansen: How were you going to use the condoms in the conversations?Reffner: I wasn’t going to use them at all.Hansen: You gonna do balloon tricks with them?Reffner: No, well...Hansen: Come on, there’s only one reason typically why people bring condoms to a home.Reffner: Yeah.Hansen: And that’s for protection for sex.Reffner: Yeah.

“Meatrocket8” starts to sweat so badly as I read from his online chat log that he asks to take his coat off.

Hansen: “I’m honored to be considered the candidate for your first…”Reffner: Playful chat.Hansen: Playful chat, it sounds like your excited about the fact that she’s a virgin and you might be the first man to have sex with her.Reffner: Sir, I really wasn’t gonna do that.

Then I tell him I’m with “Dateline” and out come the cameras and Jay heads for the door.

But no one who comes to this house looking for sex with a minor will get very far. Perverted-Justice has been sending the sexually explicit online chat logs between its decoys and the potential predators to the Darke County Sheriff’s department. And because it’s a crime to show up after soliciting sex on line with a minor, “meatrocket8” gets arrested and taken in for questioning -- where his story continues.

Police officer: Do you normally wear condoms when you have sexual intercourse with your wife?Reffner: No.Police officer: Okay, why did you buy condoms today? Cause you intended to come here to my county?Reffner: No because… well…Police officer: And have sex with a 15 year old female?Reffner: I just don’t, I’ve never done that before.

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