|
Durham, NC - What began as an undercover sting operation
headed by a local child pornography task force, soon developed
into a passionate love affair which nobody could have expected.
It all began when Sgt. Neil Ramsey, a 20 year veteran of
the Durham police department, was assigned to a recently developed
task force meant to target dangerous child predators using
the internet to lure unsuspecting children into sexual relationships.
"Basically I pretended I was an 11-year-old boy named
Timmy and hung out in the Pokemon chat areas," Sgt. Ramsey
recalls. "That's where I first encountered Antonio, who
coincidentally was also pretending to be an 11-year-old boy
named Timmy."
"Sure, I thought he might be a cop," Antonio says
today. "But I kept playing along. I remember being so
intrigued that I didn't care. We just had so much to talk
about."
Ramsey also started to have feelings.
Feelings he knew he might have to hide from other police officers.
During his investigation of the source of the computer messages,
Ramsey realized he was dealing with a potentially dangerous
criminal. While his brain told him to follow the law and secure
a warrant for Antonio's arrest, his heart told him otherwise.
"We just had so much in common. Even
though we were both lying about our ages and jobs and most
other stuff, there was an underlying honestly. We sort of
knew what each other was thinking."
And mostly that was when and where they could
have sex.
"Yeah, the first time we laid eyes on
each other, it was explosive to say the least," Antonio
said. "We ended up renting a room at the Ramada for nearly
a week, and he told his colleagues he was staking me out.
Oh, he was staking me out all right!"
With a wedding now in the works, and Sgt.
Ramsey on forced administrative leave, they'll have plenty
of time to plan their honeymoon as well as the rest of their
lives together.
"We registered at Bloomingdale's as well
as the sex offender's list," Antonio jokes. "But
seriously, the internet is a beautiful, magical thing. It
not only helped temper my criminal activity and lustful thoughts,
but it showed that two men from different backgrounds and
cultures could find love despite the hardships of a lengthy
jail sentence or losing a police pension.
The two have planned a Pokemon-themed wedding
in June and have invited all the chatroom regulars.
"Turns out there wasn't anyone in there
under the age of 40," Sgt. Ramsey said. "Thank God
for Pokemon."
|
