Joseph J. Wunderler, the Virginia man identified in an NBC Dateline report
on online predators, pleaded guilty Thursday to attempted sexual enticement
of a minor.
According to court documents, last summer Wunderler, 29, engaged in numerous
sexually oriented Internet chat sessions with a person he believed to be a
14-year-old girl.
On Aug. 19, Wunderler traveled to a residence in suburban Washington to meet
the girl for what he believed would be a sexual encounter. Instead, a
reporter and camera crew from Dateline met him.
The interview appeared on national television on Nov. 4.
“Parents and guardians need to know — and this is yet another reminder —
that dangerous predators prowl on the Internet and prey on our children,”
U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg said in a statement.
“We will continue to
work closely with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners in
the region to safeguard our children from dangerous Internet predators.”
Sentencing is scheduled for July 28.
