Daryl Alan Rudick

When Rudick arrived to the sting house, he talked with the decoy about her Northern accent. He had her say the word "oil" to note the differences between her accent and his. They also talked about Ohio State football, since the decoy said she was from Ohio, wherein Rudick claimed to a bored decoy that Ohio State could not beat Michigan that year. He was right. Chris Hansen then emerged asking what his accent sounded like. Rudick told him it also sounded like "from up North."

Rudick adamantly asserted that he did not know the decoy's age, the only defense he brought up. He claimed to have been driving and missed the message containing the age. Chris noted that texting and driving was also illegal, though not as illegal as sending sexually explicit messages to a minor. Rudick grew frustrated and attempted to leave, but was quickly apprehended by deputies. While being searched by deputies, Rudick claimed that he would have made the decoy show him her ID. During the search, a loaded firearm was found. The Chris Hansen interview consisted primarily of a back-and-forth where Rudick repeatedly denied knowing the decoy's age because he was driving.

The men caught in the first sting conducted by Sheriff Moon and Chris Hansen in Blount County received relatively light sentences due to initial disinterest by the DA’s office in prosecuting these suspects; men featured in later stings in Blount County received prison time.

As such, Rudick, much like Mark Barrett , was allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of soliciting prostitution; he was sentenced to one year of probation.