Truck driver gets 3 years in sting
Nov. 1—A truck driver from Maine who attempted to meet with a 15-year-old boy for sex at the T.A. truck stop in Willington last year has been sentenced to three years in prison.
The boy was fictitious, created by a group dedicated to catching child predators, but prosecutor Jaclyn Preville said during the sentencing Friday that the intentions of Shawn Arnold, 46, were clear.
A group called East Coast Predators caught Arnold in a sting, after he communicated with a fictitious 15-year-old boy the group had created. Members of the group confronted Arnold at the truck stop with a video camera and afterward called police, according to an affidavit.
Arnold initially told troopers that he only intended to hang out with the boy, but eventually admitted that he had explicitly discussed plans to engage in sexual intercourse, state police said.
On Friday Arnold pleaded guilty to enticing a minor by computer and attempted risk of injury to a child.
