A Montgomery woman is thankful the sexual predator who allegedly victimized her 25 years ago is finally behind bars.
Meribeth Blackwell was only 13 years old when she met a man online who she thought was around her age. However, she later found out he was 35.
She came into contact with the predator in an AOL chat group. Even though parental controls were on the computer, the man got into a chat room with Blackwell and her friends.
Blackwell decided in the summer of 1999 to move the relationship from the computer to the real world.
"I had spoken to this person, and we had decided to meet up," Blackwell told 1819 News. "He told me that he drove, so I knew he was at least 16, and he asked if he could take me to lunch and then go shopping, and I was like, 'Oh, okay, that works for me."
She spent the night at a friend's house and didn't tell her parents she had plans to meet a boy.
"He said, 'I have to do something first before we go do anything,' and I was like, 'Okay," she remembered. "And so he pulled into a motel on Troy Highway."
It was in that motel where the man took advantage of the young teen. She said she was scared and didn't know what to do. She didn't tell her parents what happened until she was an adult.
Last week, Blackwell ran across a Facebook post that brought back all those horrible memories. Thanks to Covenant Rescue Group, an organization that fights human trafficking and child exploitation, the man was arrested by Dothan Police for doing the same thing earlier this year.
After years of searching sex offender registries and looking for her abuser, Blackwell said she hopes to pursue charges now that she has his full name and location. She fears that the perpetrator has multiple victims. A quick search of the suspect showed he was also arrested in 2014 in another undercover prostitution sting.
Blackwell said now that her daughter is about to be 13, she has a renewed sense of urgency in her quest for justice. But if nothing else, she hopes her story serves as a warning to others so that no more children are hurt.
"So, at the end of it all, if I don't get justice for myself, at least I will know that he can't do it again," Blackwell said. "There's just so many bad people out there. I mean, he was a scary guy, but when you're talking to someone online, and you couldn't see their face or anything back then – but when you're talking to somebody at a young, vulnerable age like that, you're at a place where you're trying to find yourself and where you exist in the world and who you are."
Covenant Rescue Group works with law enforcement agencies to train and conduct child exploitation strings and rescue operations.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email erica.thomas@1819news.com.
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