A Brooklyn man who allegedly came to Absecon for a sex act with a minor instead wound up getting a ride from police.
Chen Chao, 40, is accused of luring, criminal attempt sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child after he arrived at Heritage Park to meet up for sex.
But instead of the 15-year-old 'boy' he had been messaging, Chao was met by Cameron Decker.
Decker is an online "pedophile hunter" who catches people by posting at young teens online.
"No, no, no," Chao repeatedly said as Decker insisted the person he made plans to meet at Heritage Park told him he was 15.
"I can't drive for another year when I turn 16," the "boy" wrote in one message provided to BreakingAC by Decker.
After that, Chao talks of a sexual act.
“I didn’t read this because I was on the phone with someone else,” Chao says of that text.
He also denies having read the one that states, "I'm only free until 4 when my mom comes home from work."
Chao says he knows the age of consent is 17 in New York, where he lives.
When asked why he knows ages of consent, he replies: Because I didn't want to break the law."
As the two are talking in the gazebo, a "taxi" pulls up and puts on its headlights.
"I’m actually not the right one to talk to. You’re going to have to talk to Lighthouse Taxi right here, and have a conversation with these guys,” Decker says, as blue-and-red police lights start flashing in the windshield.
"You're under arrest for luring a minor," says one of the two uniform officers who come out of the vehicle.
They handcuff and pat down Chao. Then the marked patrol cars arrive.
Chao was taken to the station, but was not jailed, BreakingAC has learned. He was released on a summons.
It was unclear why as two other arrests that came from Decker's visit to Absecon resulted in the man going to jail.
One was released following a detention hearing this week. The other is still awaiting his hearing.
