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Mass. man pleads guilty to affair with Bayside teen

By Ayala Ben-Yehuda

A Massachusetts man charged with having sex with a 15-year-old Bayside boy he met on the Internet last summer has pleaded guilty and faces one to three years in prison when he is sentenced next month, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said last week.

Chun Ho, 29, of 121 Tremont St. in Brighton, Mass., pleaded guilty to charges of sodomy and endangering the welfare of a child, the DA said.

Ho has been in custody since he was arrested in Alley Pond Park in June and accused of engaging in sex with the boy in a motel room and empty parking lots around Queens on several occasions.

The DA's office said Ho admitted to meeting the boy in April in an online chat room, communicating with him repeatedly on the computer and telephone before driving down to Queens for sexual encounters with him in May and June.

“The defendant also admitted that he purchased a cell phone and clothing for the boy, took him to Jones Beach and had sexual relations with the victim on five separate occasions,” said Brown in a news release.

The TimesLedger reported last summer that according to the criminal complaint, Ho carried a list of children's Internet screen names and their ages when he was arrested and admitted to chatting on the Internet with several children.

A spokeswoman for Brown told the newspaper at the time that the boy lived with his parents in Bayside and that his parents had notified authorities, although it was not clear how they became aware of the relationship between Ho and their son.

“The defendant's guilty plea ensures the certainty of a conviction and imprisonment and also sends a clear signal to other adult predators who would seek to use the Internet to lure unsuspecting child victims that they will be apprehended, prosecuted and punished,” Brown said.

Queens Supreme Court Justice James P. Griffin is set to impose a sentence of one to three years in prison at Ho's sentencing hearing on March 21, the DA's office said.

Reach reporter Ayala Ben-Yehuda by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 1-718-229-0300, Ext. 146.