Pubdate: Tue, 10 May 2005
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Copyright: 2005 PG Publishing
Contact:  http://www.post-gazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/341
Author: Torsten Ove

EX-POLICE OFFICER RECEIVES 7 1/2 YEARS IN CHILD SEX
CASE

A former Baden police officer who carried on a secret sex life with a
14-year-old boy in shopping mall parking lots was sentenced yesterday
to 7 1/2 years in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge David Cercone also ordered Kenneth R. Jones to pay
about $700 toward counseling for the boy and told him he'll have to
register as a sex offender when he gets out.

In court, Jones' wife and the mother of his three young children said
she would be there for him when he is released.

A longtime officer who ran the DARE anti-drug program at a local
elementary school, Jones admitted in February that he had had sex with
the boy several times, starting in June.

He trolled homosexual Internet chat rooms from his basement computer
and arranged the trysts without his family's knowledge.

He also exchanged pornographic pictures by e-mail with the boy. A
forensic search of his computer turned up more than 500 images of child porn.

Jones pleaded guilty to one count of coercion related to the boy and
another count of possession of child pornography. Prosecutors agreed
to drop a count of attempted coercion.

The case stunned the tight-knit Beaver County police community, where
Jones had enjoyed a reputation as a dedicated officer and family man.
But he said he was driven by hidden impulses that he could not control.

Federal agents arrested him in November after setting up a sting in
which an FBI agent posed as the boy online and arranged a bogus tryst
to see if Jones would show up.

An FBI surveillance team watched as he left the Baden police station
in his van and drove to the meeting point in a shopping mall parking
lot.

When the boy didn't appear, Jones went home, got online and asked
where he was. The officer set up another meeting for the following
day.

This time, agents arrested him and searched his house.

Federal prosecutors say the boy, now 15, is the victim in two other
cases pending in U.S. District Court. Wyatt Melius, 27, a UPMC Health
System employee from New Kensington, and Michael Murdoch, 23, formerly
of Crescent, are both charged with inducing the boy into sex. 
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