A Hillcrest senior admitted in court that he went online looking for a tryst with a teenage girl but was instead caught in an internet sting, prosecutors announced on Thursday.
Joel Einhorn, 75, pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted rape on Sept. 5. He is due to return to court on Nov. 28, where Queens Criminal Court Judge Stephanie Zaro indicated that she would sentence Einhorn to five months jail and 10 years probation. Einhorn must also register as a sex offender, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.
According to charges, on Oct. 18, 2016, a New York State Police investigator responded to a personal Craigslist ad acting in his capacity as a 13-year-old girl. The ad, which Einhorn placed, was titled, “Daddy looking for ‘real’ Queens ‘girl’ No flakes (M4W).”
From Oct. 18 through Nov. 17 2016, authorities said, Einhorn communicated online with the investigator, who mentioned on more than one occasion to Einhorn that he was a 13-year-old girl. During the conversations, Einhorn used explicit sexual language and expressed his desire to meet with the teenager for sex as well as how he wanted to sexually please her.
Einhorn arranged to meet with the “teen” on Nov. 17, 2016. Officers arrested Einhorn as soon as he showed up at the meet-up location inside a 2015 Honda Civic. Police also found inside of the vehicle an open black bag containing sexual paraphernalia.
“The defendant has admitted to trying to meet an underage teenager whom he was conversing online with for a month seeking sex,” Brown said on Sept. 6. “He will now go to jail for his actions. This case underscores the importance of internet surveillance by law enforcement to protect children from sexual predators. Parents must closely monitor their children’s internet activities and not let youngsters become victims of sexual predators.”
