Larry Hayes

Hayes had been in the Army for 20 years, but was a disabled veteran at the time of the sting. He admitted that he had previously met other adults online for sex.

In a somewhat different scenario than the typical investigations, Hayes met the decoy father in a hotel lobby. The decoy and Hayes discussed the deal and Hayes paid the father the agreed upon amount, plus $10. The decoy gave Hayes a key for a hotel room, under the guise that the girl would be waiting there for him. Deputies detained Hayes as he entered the hotel room and took him to a mobile processing unit where Chris Hansen was able to interview him. During the police interview, Hayes told detectives that he was not aware of any child pornography on his phone, but refused to give detectives his cell phone passcode.

Before beginning the interview, Hayes was allowed to call his wife. He originally told his wife, before coming to meet the decoy, that he was going to Lowe's for plumbing-related material. To keep the act up, Hayes intended to go to Lowe's after the incident to get the material he needed. Hayes admitted during the interview that he was communicating with a father seeking to prostitute his foster daughter for sex. However, Hayes claimed that his original intent was to "help somebody out of a bad situation." He further claimed that he intended to gather information and evidence with which to take to law enforcement to report the situation. He stated that did not call law enforcement because he did not have the location of the girl until the last minute. His reason for discussing sex was to keep the conversation going until he could find a location to report to law enforcement. He did admit, however, that he initially contacted the decoy intending to have sex, until he was told the age was fifteen. Chris did not believe this story, asserting that it was made up to not appear like he actually wanted sex from a minor.

In a plea agreement, Hayes pled no contest to a lesser charge of Coercing a Commercial Sex Act With a Child <18yoa, and Traveling to Meet After Using a Computer to Solicit a Guardian, in exchange for the other charges being dropped. He was sentenced to ten years in prison for the first charge and five for the second to run concurrent, meaning a total of ten years in prison with credit for 173 days. Upon his release, he will have ten additional years of probation. He is currently housed at the Avon Park Work Camp and his expected release date is January 3, 2034. He is also required to be a registered sex offender.