James Myers
A Catoosa County jury convicted James Myers for soliciting what he believed to be an 11-year-old girl for sex and for possessing and distributing child pornography after a two-day trial before Superior Court Judge Brian House.
Myers, 52, was convicted on all counts of the four-count indictment, after less than 30 minutes of deliberations by the jury.
Evidence presented at trial showed that Myers had initiated contact with a Facebook profile of what was purported to be a young girl named “Emily” who resided in Ringgold. Over the next two months, Myers engaged in an online relationship with “Emily” where he sent graphic messages about the sex acts he wanted to perform with her and repeatedly talked about wanting to impregnate her.
The “Emily” profile, however, was posted by a group named Predator Poachers led by Alex Rosen, which consists of private citizens from Texas who conduct sting operations on potential child sex predators.
After Myers arranged to have “Emily” meet him at his home, a member of the group showed up at Myers home and engaged in a video recorded conversation with Myers where he admitted to viewing and sending child pornography on the Telegram app.
Myers went on to describe his visits to the “dark web” where he viewed all types of child pornography which included infants and bestiality. During the conversation, members of the citizen group called local law enforcement and turned over copies of the online conversations between Myers and “Emily” as well as the recorded conversation.
The case was investigated by Detective Zach Roden of the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office who, after securing a warrant for Myers’ phone, located pictures and videos of child pornography and a text conversation where child pornography videos were sent to an unknown individual through the Telegram app in exchange for a $200 Amazon gift card.
The case was presented to the jury by Assistant District Attorney David Wolfe with the assistance of Victim Witness Advocate Ashley Nicholson, who coordinated and communicated with the witnesses. Chief Investigator Christy Smith provided investigation and support to the team.
Judge House sentenced Myers to serve 10 years in prison followed by 30 years of sex offender probation. During the hearing, Assistant District Attorney Wolfe pointed out that Myers was a dangerous predator as he was not only distributing child pornography but was actively soliciting children in the community to molest.
“There are lines you better never cross with me - and wanting to destroy the innocence of our children with your sexual perversions is one of them,” said District Attorney Clayton M. Fuller. “Sheriff Gary Sisk and the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office did an outstanding job working this case, and we are especially grateful for the courageous efforts of the Predator Poachers group and their leader, Alex Rosen, who works tirelessly to expose this predator and others. Because of their commitment and courage, our team was able to present powerful evidence to the jury and secure justice for the most vulnerable among us.”