SALEM — A North Andover man who got caught using Craigslist to lure a 13-year-old boy to a fast-food restaurant has pleaded guilty to enticement of a child.
Salem Superior Court Judge David Lowy yesterday sentenced Jonathan Pickering, 45, of 437 Waverley Road, to two and a half years in Essex County Jail. Pickering's attorney requested a two-year sentence. Prosecutor James Gubitose had sought three to five years in state prison.
Earlier this year, a judge had ordered Pickering — a Level 1 sex offender — to be held in jail without bail for 90 days after he signed an agreement that he posed a danger to society.
North Andover police arrested Pickering on June 26 at McDonald's on Chickering Road, where he went to meet a boy named "Eddie," who he thought he had been chatting with online for about a month.
But "Eddie" was really North Andover Detective Jay Staude, who discovered Pickering's Craigslist posting about a month ago during a routine check of the Web site. The ad stated that Pickering was looking for boys in their 20s, college, and teens, and made reference to several explicit sex acts. The ad also showed photographs of Pickering in stages of undress.
Staude responded to the posting posing as a 13-year-old boy, writing, "Hey saw your ad it wuz cool waz up? Ed," which sparked a monthlong series of sometimes explicit e-mails and instant messages that were included in police reports on the case.
Even when Staude wrote that "Eddie" would only be turning 14, Pickering allegedly kept talking to him, pushing a meeting between the two.
Pickering had moved from Lynn to North Andover about a year ago, and was staying with an aunt and a cousin in a Waverley Road condominium at the time of his arrest.
Being labeled a Level 1 sex offender means the Sex Offender Registry Board has determined that the risk of re-offense by the person is low, according to the board's Web site. Information on Level 1 sex offenders also is not available to the public.
