As America sits down to its annual binge of turkey and pecan pie, perhaps it should give thanks that another paedophile has been nailed by police.

Yesterday 50-year-old William Michael Bowles, the founder and chairman of Silicon Valley Net company, iBEAM Broadcasting Corp, pleaded guilty to using the Internet to solicit sex from a teenage boy. According to San Jose Mercury News, Bowles admitted to "an attempted lewd act with a child and two counts of possession of child pornography".

Bowles was caught thanks to a well-rehearsed sting employed by police. An officer, assuming the identity of a 13-year-old boy, was approached by the IT executive in a chat room last July. Bowles engaged the "child" in online conversation for several hours and sent pictures of himself naked. He was arrested in August when he attempted to meet the 'boy' at a shopping mall. Police also found 50 images of child porn on his laptop.

Bowles will be sentenced in January. ®

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