Boy, 16, Posing as Girl, 14, Helps Take Down a Child Sex Predator

A child sex predator is facing 10 years in prison, thanks in part to an amateur teenage detective who trapped him online.

A Florida judge sentenced Zachary Spiegel, 38, for attempted online enticement of a minor on June 22, according to a release from the Southern District of Florida's U.S. Attorney's Office. Spiegel was caught through his online communications with a person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl named Shayla.

However, there was no Shayla. Spiegel, a husband and father of two in Jensen Beach, Florida, was being catfished by a 16-year-old boy seeking to identify child predators in his area.

For several weeks in January, Spiegel sent "Shayla" explicit messages, including "graphic descriptions of the sex acts he would perform on her" and photos of his erect penis, prosecutors said. He also tried to persuade the fictional girl to meet him at a shopping plaza for sex in his car.

Spiegel and his imaginary victim arranged a time and place to meet, but he never showed up, texting "Shayla" that police stopped him for speeding and he ended up returning home.

At this point, the 16-year-old boy posing as Shayla decided to contact law enforcement. He and his parents met with Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Eric Urgo, who took over Shayla's persona.

Spiegel continued to communicate with the person he believed was a 14-year-old girl, sending more sexually explicit messages, more photos of his face and genitals and more solicitations to meet in person.

After a law enforcement investigation, officers searched Spiegel's home on January 20 and found the cell phone he used to correspond with "Shayla."

The Children's Advocacy Centers in Florida served over 34,000 children who were victims of abuse or neglect in 2018. Of those victims, 35 percent suffered from sexual abuse. A large proportion of child victims do not disclose their abuse until adulthood, if ever.

In December, a 53-year-old woman from Tampa was sentenced to over five years after laundering money for Newstar Enterprise, a "child modeling" website that trafficked in child sexual exploitation.

Meanwhile, a 45-year-old Florida man who pretended to be a teenager to convince minors to send explicit pictures was sentenced to 25 years in prison last November.

And last August, a 24-year-old man from Gibsonton, Florida, was sentenced to five years for tweeting child pornography at elected officials, media outlets and public figures.

Newsweek reached out to the Southern District of Florida's U.S. Attorney's Office for comment.