NASHUA, N.H. -- A judge has cleared a former Massachusetts police officer of charges that he tried to solicit a young girl for sex on the Internet.
After a two-day trial in Nashua, Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge David Sullivan ruled on Tuesday that Michael Caico committed no crime when he talked to someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl in a chat room.
He actually was communicating with a Hollis detective.
Caico lost his job as a police school resource officer in Sandwich, Mass., when he was charged in 2005.
Another judge had dismissed a charge against Caico in 2005, finding that prosecutors failed to allege any attempt to solicit, lure or seduce the "girl," and that simply talking dirty online was not a crime.
The New Hampshire Supreme Court later ruled prosecutors could bring a new charge and try again.
Caico chose to be tried before a judge, without a jury, and his lawyer made essentially the same arguments the second time around.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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