Matthew Cogburn

**Matthew Clifton Cogburn** is a suspected predator involved in the Fortson, Georgia edition of **To Catch a Predator**. He is known for being overly religious and his "keep your genes in your jeans" line.

## Biography

Matthew was an ordinary child growing up. He was raised as a highly religious kid, attending church camps every summer. Matthew enjoyed playing with LEGOs, spent eight years leveling a pile of dirt close to his home, and was an average student in school. In 2002, he graduated from Jones County High School. He started online conversations with strangers around 2004. In 2006, Cogburn went to college, worked, and lived in various apartments throughout the year. According to his MySpace, he was a virgin waiting until marriage.

Matthew used the screen name "centgaguy04" when he began chatting with a decoy named "Wendy", whom he thought was a 14 year old girl. Using a different screen name "talmatt", Matthew also had a chat with Wendy's "friend" named "Devin", who also claimed to be 14. Matthew questioned Wendy on a variety of topics, including whether she was "tight," whether she had a gag reflex, if she was "on birth control or sticking with condoms," if she would practice on a cucumber, how she would please him, if she has ever had sex with her ex-boyfriend, if she would "deepthroat" and "go to third base" with him, if she has had any toys, if anyone had ever given her oral sex, and what positions she had tried.

On July 23rd, 2006, Matthew arrived at the sting house, taking him an extra half hour to get there because he was having trouble with directions. He is greeted by Emily Bicks, who had to wear a blond wig due to having black hair and Matthew wanting to be with a blond. After chatting with the decoy, Chris Hansen comes out and confronts Matthew. Matthew then states he knew it was a setup and attempts to walk away. Chris stops him and says he has a few questions. Matthew asks Chris if it was "the national news". Chris asks questions as to what his plan was. Matthew responds that he is unable to explain because of his internal struggle over being a virgin. Chris reads from Matthew's chat log and compares it to his MySpace page, where he said that his hero was God and that "Jesus rocks." After further questioning, Matthew decides to end the interview. He begins walking towards the door and is stopped when Chris reveals who he is and the cameras come out. When asked if there was anything else he wanted to say, Matthew replied, "Keep your genes in your jeans" which took Chris some time to realize what he meant.

## Behind the scenes

Matthew is later arrested by the Harris County Sheriff's Office. He is questioned by police and admitted he knew Emily was wearing a blond wig. He tells them he believed Chris was trying to "put him down" and mentioned to having a "inner struggle" with online sexual chats with strangers.

On February 19th, 2007, Matthew pleaded guilty to Attempted Child Molestation and Attempted Sodomy. He was sentenced to ten years in prison with a minimum of four years to serve, 16 years of probation and lifetime registration as a sex offender. On February 10th, 2009, after serving two years, he was granted parole, and he will continue to be under supervision until 2025. His brother passed away, several of his close friends got married and had kids, and his parents lost faith in him while he was incarcerated, which led Matthew to depend more on his faith.

## Trivia

* A day before arriving at the sting house, it was Matthew's 22nd birthday.
* Matthew became interested in art after his release from prison. In 2018, he started a website called "Arts on 5th," which featured his paintings, drawings, and woodwork. This website rather coincidentally shut down after Hansen reached out to Matthew for an interview for his *Predators I've Caught* podcast.
* Measuring 6'5", Matthew is one of the few predators to appear on the show that was taller than Chris Hansen (who is 6'2).

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 https://dairystatedegenerates.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-jesus-rocks-predator-is-telling.html
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 http://www.perverted-justice.com/?archive=centgaguy04
3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAWBEBPV9mI&ab\_channel=AgentMCEntertainment
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