Nicholas Deelstra, 54, was arrested after calling the FBI to reveal that he believed a Craiglist ad he responded to which offered child sex was a scam
A Utah man has been arrested on child sex charges after admitting to being baited by a Craiglist ad offering sex with an underage boy.
Nicholas Deelstra, 54, from Logan, Utah, called the FBI in late August to admit that he had responded to the advert and arranged to have a 15-year-old boy for sex.
It is not clear whether he knew he was incriminating himself by doing so.
The teenager never showed up and afterwards, Deelstra said he began receiving messages from someone claiming to be the boy’s father who demanded money to repair their car which he said the teen wrecked on his way to their illicit appointment.
Deelstra, a vocational rehabilitation worker who has worked in at least one Utah high school, confessed that he had made the appointment and that he knew the boy was underage.
Police searched his phone and discovered he had exchanged explicit text messages and photographs with the person purporting to be the underage boy.
Shortly after making his complaint to the FBI, he was arrested by Logan City Police on child sex charges. He remains in jail on a $10,000 bond.
Police records do not indicate whether he knew he was incriminating himself when he first made contact with FBI agents.
Deelstra said he responded to the ad on the listings website (file image above) to arrange for the boy, 15, to come to his home. He never showed up but he said he then began receiving messages asking demanding money
When he contacted the FBI in August, Deelstra said he’d arranged to have the boy over to his house for sex despite knowing he was underage but that he never showed up.
Deelstra faces felony counts of sexual exploitation and dealing in materials harmful to a minor
Shortly afterwards, he said he began receiving messages from someone claiming to the boy’s father.
That person demanded money from him, claiming that the teenager damaged their car en route to his appointment with Deelstra.
Deelstra did not reveal whether the messages contained threats that he would be reported to police if he did not pay up.
He was charged with third-degree felony counts of sexual exploitation and dealing in materials harmful to a minor and two misdemeanor soliciting a minor by internet or text.
Deelstra is employed by the state and works with teenagers and disabled people to help them find work.
The Department of Workforce Services, which employs him, told The Salt Lake Tribune it had begun an internal investigation following his arrest.
Authorities have not revealed whether they are investigating the Craiglist ad which triggered his arrest.