Thursday, 4:30 PM
Former state trooper gets minimum sentence in underage Internet sex case
By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff
A federal judge gave the minimum sentence today to a former Massachusetts state trooper and decorated Army war veteran who admitted trying to solicit sex over the Internet from who he thought was a 14-year-old boy.
Brian O'Hare was sentenced to the mandatory minimum of five years in prison today in federal court in Boston after pleading guilty.
"The Internet has brought many wonderful things to the world, but it has also brought many vile things," said US District Court Judge George A. O'Toole Jr., moments before issuing the sentence.
O'Hare, 46, of Lancaster, came to court with his brother, sister, and sister-in-law. Dressed in a black suit, he stood next to his lawyer and gave a brief statement.
"I take full responsibility for my actions, and I want to apologize to my family for the embarrassment and shame I've caused,'' O'Hare said. He also apologized to the Army and the Massachusetts State Police.
Prosecutors alleged that in August 2005 O'Hare struck up a conversation with someone he thought was a 14-year-old boy in an America On-line chatroom titled "SCHOOLBOIS SHOWERSM4."
However, the person in the chatroom was actually an FBI agent working on a sting operation designed to catch on-line predators trying to lure underage people to have sex.
O'Hare chatted often with the fictitious teen for several months. He was arrested in February 2006 when he drove to a mall in Medford to meet him.
