Man seeking sex with ‘Amber,’ 14, gets a big surprise

For a month this year a 40-year-old Georgia man calling himself “Cameron” chatted online with a 14-year-old girl named “Amber,” telling her he’d like to meet for oral sex and intercourse, sending her pornographic pictures and videos of older men with young women, and teaching her to masturbate to ease their anticipated encounter.

“Cameron” turned out to be Steven Craig Deason Jr. And “Amber,” as Deason later would learn, was a federal agent working undercover.

After a week-long trial, a jury Friday found Deason guilty of trying to entice a minor online and six counts of attempting to send a minor obscene material. The case was tried in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.

According to U.S. Attorney G.F. “Pete” Peterman III, Deason worked at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins and lived in Gray. He faces from 10 years to life in prison for trying to entice a minor and a maximum 10 years on each count of trying to send a minor obscene material. He’ll also have to register as a sex offender.

The Air Force Office of Special Investigations worked with the FBI on the investigation involving online exchanges between Jan. 6 and Feb. 4, Peterman said.

This story was originally published December 13, 2016 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Man seeking sex with ‘Amber,’ 14, gets a big surprise."