Teacher pleads not guilty to attempted online seduction of teen
Staff report
December 24, 2008
REDWOOD CITY — A Petaluma teacher arrested by Burlingame police in a “To Catch a Predator”-type sting set up via MySpace pleaded not guilty to four felony charges Tuesday.
Burlingame police arrested 34-year-old high school teacher Scott Dietlin on Nov. 22 after he allegedly pursued a fake 15-year-old girl named “Jackie” via MySpace, prosecutors said. Two 15-year-old boys set up the fictitious MySpace profile, complete with a photo, as a joke on their friends.
Dietlin, however, allegedly started using instant or text messaging to engage in very sexually explicit communication with “Jackie,” prosecutors said.
The boys who created the profile reported the incident to Burlingame police, who pretended to be “Jackie” in order to set up a meeting with Dietlin in San Mateo, where they arrested him.
Dietlin is charged with sending harmful matter through e-mail with intent to seduce, sending harmful matter to a minor, communicating with a minor to engage in a lewd act, and arranging and attending a meeting for the purpose of engaging in a lewd act with a minor.
