Charles E. Lawrence III (July 9, 1956) is an American former accountant, former commercial real estate broker, and convicted sex offender. In October 2015, Lawrence was confronted by Chris Hansen after traveling to a sting house thinking he was going to have sex with a 13-year-old boy. Lawrence was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison.
Background and sting
Prior to being caught in the sting, Charles E. Lawrence III worked in New York as an accountant and commercial real estate broker. In September 2015, Lawrence, who was 59 years of age at the time, started talking to someone he thought was a 13-year-old boy on a social media app called Grindr. He told the boy he could teach him about sex and asked about his sexual thoughts. On October 3, 2015, Lawrence went to meet the boy, but instead of meeting a real child, he was met by former Dateline NBC reporter Chris Hansen and was arrested by the police. When police searched Lawrence, they found a container of lubricant and a bottle of nail polish remover. Lawrence was charged with three felonies: second-degree attempted sexual assault, attempted risk of injury to a minor and enticing a minor to have an obscene performance.
Criminal process and sentencing
On April 28, 2016, while dressed in a blue suit, Lawrence was in front of Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin and pleaded guilty under the Alford Doctrine to all three felonies he was facing. A plea under the Alford Doctrine meant that he did not admit to everything but agreed there was enough evidence to convict him of the crimes. Judge Devlin found him guilty and told him he would be sentenced to prison for up to three years, but not less than nine months, on September 2, 2016. Lawrence and his lawyer didn't talk to the media as they left the courtroom. During his sentencing hearing, Lawrence said he had eye problems and thought he was going to have sex with an 18-year-old man, not a 13-year-old boy.
His lawyer said he got a text message that had a one and a three which he mistook for a one and an eight. According to State's Attorney John Smriga, an undercover operation by his office, the Fairfield police, and Hansen revealed Lawrence actually thought he was chatting with a 13-year-old boy on Grindr. Lawrence said he was not a pedophile, adding that he used "poor judgment", and claimed he had never seen, used or downloaded child pornography in his life. Gavin told the judge that it was funny because his client traveled daily on the commuter train with Hansen and was aware of Hansen's previous television program, To Catch a Predator. Judge Devlin said he didn't believe him and said the case had "Shakespearean" quality to it, or "maybe a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde aspect". The judge said the case was about protecting children and noted that Lawrence did a horrible thing. Judge Delvin sentenced Lawrence to eight years in prison but suspended six years of the sentence, ordering him to serve two years. He also required Lawrence to register as a sex offender. Lawrence was released from prison on June 15, 2018.