By Carlotta Mohamed
HILLCREST — A 75-year-old Hillcrest man who exchanged sexually explicit text messages to a person he had met online, believed to be a 13-year-old girl, pleaded guilty to attempted rape last week, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
“The defendant has admitted to trying to meet an underage teenager whom he was conversing online with for a month seeking sex,” said Brown. “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.”
The defendant, Joel Einhorn of Utopia Parkway in Hillcrest, pleaded guilty Sept. 6 to attempted rape charges before Queens Criminal Court Judge Stephanie Zaro.
Einhorn is expected to be sentenced to five months in jail and 10 years probation Nov. 28, according to Brown.
The victim was an investigator with the New York State Police who is assigned, in part, to investigate cases involving the use of the internet to entice children to have sex, Brown said.
The undercover investigator responded Oct. 18, 2016, to a personal ad on Craigslist entitled, Daddy looking for “real” Queens “girl” No flakes (M4W), Brown said.
Between Oct. 18, 2016, and Nov. 17, 2016, Einhorn chatted online with the investigator, who told him on more than one occasion that he was a 13-year-old girl living in Queens, according to Brown. During those conversations, Einhorn used explicit sexual language and discussed various ways he planned to sexually please her and his desire to meet with the teenager for sex.
On Nov. 17, 2016, Einhorn was arrested when he arrived at a pre-arranged meeting location in Queens in a red 2015 Honda Civic. Inside the vehicle, investigators recovered an open black bag containing sexual paraphernalia, Brown said.
As a result of his plea, Einhorn will be required to register as a sex offender, Brown said.
— Carlotta Mohamed
