Jerry Griffitt

> *"She said her name was twenty-two." - A flustered Jerry Griffitt confusing the name with the age*
>
>

## Physical description

### Eye color

Hazel

**Jerry Eugene Griffitt** is a suspected predator featured in the Riverside, California edition of **To Catch A Predator.** He is mostly known for his iconic "her name was twenty-two" line, which has become legendary and one of the most used quotes in the TCaP fandom.

## Biography

45-year-old Jerry Griffitt started an internet conversation with a Perverted Justice decoy who was posing as a 13-year-old girl. Griffitt lied to the decoy and told her he was 35. He asked her if she was single and preferred older men. He lamented the fact that she wasn't slightly older, saying that he was "looking for a good girl to be with." When he asked her if she could date a man his age, she responded that she would maybe consider it. Then he told her he was searching for romance and that she was really attractive. She was questioned about her past sexual relationship with boys. He asked her if she could leave her house so they could meet. He suggested she to his place in Long Beach when she said she could, but she shot back that she couldn't drive. When he suggested picking her up, she consented without a problem. He said he wanted to call her and hear her "sexy voice." He was informed that she could not call him since any calls she made would be billed to her mother's phone account. She reassured him that if he called her as he had feared, his phone number wouldn't appear on the bill. Griffitt expressed his desire for them to date.

He claimed nevertheless that since she was a minor, they had to keep their relationship a secret and couldn't go out in public. He questioned her consent to have sex with a man his age and engage in other "stuff like that." He apologized for not being with her on that specific day. He recommended they go somewhere private so they could have some alone time. He agreed to see her but insisted they go somewhere no one would see them. He said that she could "make out with" him and "cuddle" him.  He offered to pick her up and drive her to a motel. She stated that she was still a virgin when he asked. She responded in the affirmative when he asked if she believed she would ever want to "do it" with him. He promised to be gentle and not try to impregnate her. He provided her with his mobile phone number. A phone conversation was followed by another online chat. She revealed that her parents would be away from home for the weekend after Griffitt said he really wanted to meet her. He then offered to go to her house the following day and spend that night there with her.

He suggested they "go beyond than making out" and offered to bring condoms and birth control gel. She requested him to bring some beer, and he agreed. He advised her not to invite any of her friends since doing so would be "too risky." When he said he'd bring her a gift, the decoy said she liked pie. He assured her that he would bring pie and whipped cream, which he would then lick off her body. He also proposed that they shower in candlelight. He enquired if she had any nearby relatives. When she responded that she didn't, he remarked that it was fortunate that no one would be checking on them.  He noted that based on the photo she had uploaded for her profile, she had "very kissable lips." He offered to demonstrate how to have sex and advised her to masturbate first. Two hours later, he mentioned her "offering [her] virginity" to him. They planned to meet that night during a later conversation that day.

## Sting

Griffitt arrived at the sting house with apple pie, whipped cream, KY lubricant, vaginal contraceptive jelly, tums, and a bottle of beer. Del Harvey spoke to Griffitt while posing as the teenage girl in a different room. The two share conversation before Chris Hansen entered the room and told Griffitt to take a seat. Griffitt responded, "Not a whole lot," when questioned about his purpose there. He claimed he was stopping by to see Adrianna, a 22-year-old woman. Griffitt stated he was speaking with a "Amy" when they stopped talking and Adrianna began conversing with him, telling him she was the Amy's aunt. He claimed Adrianna gave him the address. When Chris informed him that Amy used the screen name "greendaychickk," Griffitt asserted that Amy told him that it was Adrianna's screen name.

Chris began to lose patience, complaining that he couldn't find any evidence of Adrianna's existence and that Griffitt had already talked with the 13-year-old decoy about her age several times. Griffitt then asserted that he was being entrapped and was being lead on since there was no Adrianna. Furthermore, he insisted that he was conversing with Adrianna and that he believed the 13-year-old decoy had left. Chris made a statement about Griffitt's lack of eye contact when responding to questions. Chris then identified himself to Griffitt and revealed his affiliation with Dateline. Griffitt covered his face and asked them not to expose his face when the cameras came out. He walked out of the house, leaving behind all the items he brought. When police searched his car, they found MapQuest directions to the sting house.

## Police interview

During an interview with an investigator, Griffitt persisted in insisting that Adriana was the main factor in his decision to visit the sting home. After the investigator presented him comments he had made during the discussions proving that he was aware that the girl with whom he was conversing was 13 years old, he claimed that his he wasn't thinking clearly because he had been put under a lot of stress. He claimed that this was the only time he had ever "fucked up." He defended himself by saying that even if he had not thought the decoy was underage or that she was 22, he had a wife and should have been at home helping to fix their marital issues. Griffitt further said he was unaware that when he arrived at the house, he would be having sex. He then admitted that they would have had sex when confronted that he talked about it in the chats.

## Aftermath

Griffitt was charged with a felony count of attempted lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age. His bail was set at $25,000. Following his arrest, Griffitt was once again brought to attention online, this time by the very Perverted Justice decoy who had originally posed as the teenage girl in their prior interaction. The decoy reestablished contact with the arresting officer, who expressed a willingness to arrest Griffitt again. The officer advised the Perverted Justice decoy to initiate communication with Griffitt to gauge his response. On February 14, 2006, Griffitt replied to the decoy saying, "Fuck you! Leave me alone you bunch of liars!" In the lead-up to his trial, Griffitt made multiple attempts to have his chatlogs censored, but these efforts proved unsuccessful. The trial court ultimately determined that Perverted Justice was not functioning as an agent for the Riverside police and that Griffitt could not reasonably expect his chatlogs to be kept private.

Griffitt vigorously asserted his innocence and fought his case for nearly five years, dragging it out until July 2009. Despite still having no evidence, Griffitt's primary defense still revolved around the belief that he was communicating with Adrianna, the purported 13-year-old decoy's aunt, whom he claimed to be 22 years old. Opting to exercise his constitutional right to a jury trial, Griffitt's new wife was present in the courtroom as his chatlog was presented as evidence. In the autumn of 2009, after just over an hour of deliberation, the jury selected a foreman and returned a guilty verdict on the felony charge that Griffitt was facing. He was subsequently sentenced to a year in county jail, with 60 days credited for time already served. Additionally, he received three years of probation, mandatory lifetime registration as a sex offender, a requirement to attend sex offender counseling, responsibility for various fees and fines, consent for random searches of his person and property, and the obligation to provide a DNA sample.

### Appeal

In 2010, Griffitt filed an appeal, contending that his request to have his interview with Chris Hansen suppressed should have been granted. He suggested that it should have been prohibited to show the footage of Chris's interview with him during the sting operation since it was more prejudiced than probative and would take too much time. He further claimed that the trial court abused its authority by permitting the video to be shown because it was a composite of the chatlogs and the defendant's post-arrest interview with the police. He additionally argued that a condition of his probation which required alcohol testing was improper. Although the trial court agreed to eliminate alcohol testing from the probation requirements, the remainder of the verdict was upheld.

## Behind the scenes

* Griffitt was in the midst of a divorce. His wife was cheating on him with a police officer.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 https://casetext.com/case/people-v-griffitt/
2. ↑ http://www.perverted-justice.com/booking/bookingcollage.html
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 http://www.perverted-justice.com/?archive=mr\_b\_jones2
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 http://www.perverted-justice.com/?con=mr\_b\_jones2
5. ↑ https://meganslaw.ca.gov/OffenderDisplay.aspx?searchby=offender&ID=18609246N1504&NSOPRFlag=True&x=df4cea4f-bb1f-4d67-b342-d55bd176fb02
6. ↑ https://dairystatedegenerates.blogspot.com/2020/10/to-catch-predator-update-riverside-part.html