Gerald White

> ”Uggggggh...”
>
>

>  - Gerald’s profound response to learning about the clothes drying process.
>
>

**Robert Gerald White** was a suspected predator featured on the Fortson, Georgia edition of **To Catch a Predator**. He is known for his boot fetish and hilarious scream during his arrest.

## Sting and arrest

Robert Gerald White, who also went by Gerald White, was 31 when he began an internet conversation with a decoy who was pretending to be a fifteen-year-old African-American girl named "Natasha." The decoy was really Xavier Von Erck, founder of Perverted Justice. Gerald mentioned he preferred to be with black girls. Shortly after, he asked the decoy if she wore boots. In addition to offering to take her boot shopping, he disclosed that he had a boot fetish. He acknowledged wanting to engage in oral sex. Gerald later inquired about the decoy's history with hypnosis. He offered to "hypnolove" her so that she would want him "more than life itself," be more "horny than ever," and never want to take off the boots he provides her.

To reach the sting house, Gerald had to travel six hours. He walks in the house. Gerald believed he was conversing with a black girl, but Perverted Justice sends out Amanda, a caucasian decoy wearing a black wig. The two engage in light conversation before Chris Hansen introduces himself. Gerald confesses that he had met "Natasha" online and that he has come to see her. When questioned about her age, he says they never talked about it and that he didn't know. Chris responds to his assertions by quoting from his chat history. While Chris is attempts to read further, Gerald interrupts him and says he understands what he said. When questioned about his plan, Gerald gets up from his seat and makes a slow exit from the sting house. When he is ordered by police to get to the ground, Gerald lets out a frustrated cry. He is then arrested and taken into custody.

## Legal process and sentence

Gerald was charged with criminal attempt to commit child molestation and criminal attempt to commit statutory rape, both felonies. Because of the attention surrounding the case, his trial was transferred from Harris County to Whitfield County. The case was being prosecuted before a judge from the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit by Mark Post, chief assistant district attorney for that circuit. Less than a week before the trial started, Morris Wiltshire, a former prosecutor who ran as the Republican Party candidacy for district attorney for Athens-Clarke and Oconee County in 2000, and his associate, Stan Baker, took over the case on a "lick and a promise." Wiltshire noted "no one had fought for [Gerald] that I could see in the criminal justice system." Judge Frank J. Jordan Jr. made a decision prior to the trial that Perverted Justice was not working as state agents, which meant that Gerald could not have been the victim of entrapment.

The trial began on February 2008. Wiltshire sobbed uncontrollably during the trial as he begged the jury to acquit Gerald, claiming that he was a "simple" man who had no idea what he was doing when he started speaking online with someone he believed to be a child. Wiltshire contended that Gerald wasn't a predator but rather that he believed the girl was his true love. He added that Gerald had trouble talking with women. Wiltshire contended that Gerald was "slow" and stated that Gerald completed specialized coursework in order to graduate from high school. Wiltshire also claimed Gerald was a victim of the Nigerian email fraud who sent so much money that the postmaster general inquired about Gerald because he thought Gerald was a part of the scheme. Mark Post argued that Gerald was proficient in internet communication and operated an antique and yard sale company in his hometown. Post said Gerald attended at least two different universities in addition to earning a four-year degree from a technical college.

Wiltshire asserted that Gerald took four phenobarbital pills in an effort to commit suicide because he was stressed about the trial. Wiltshire said that it wasn't done to postpone the trial. Wiltshire also made reference to entrapment, asserting that when members of Perverted Justice "lured" Gerald online, they were acting as agents of the state. Before coming to a decision, the Whitfield County jury, according to Wiltshire, reportedly asked the presiding judge whether they may suggest leniency at Gerald's sentence in the event that they found him guilty. For both felony counts, Gerald was found guilty. Wiltshire declared that when his case was up for sentencing the next month, they would ask for a new trial. Seeking a new trial did not work however, as in March 2008, Gerald was sentenced to twenty years in prison with a minimum of seven years to serve, thirteen years of probation, and lifetime registration as a sex offender. He was paroled and released from prison on November 16, 2011.

In 2007, Gerald's father, Robert E. White, and his lawyer Gary Gerrard, went before the Oglethorpe County Superior Court and the Georgia Court of Appeals. They sought a warrant to have Xavier von Erck, the man who posed as the fifteen-year-old girl, arrested. They claimed he should have been charged with solicitation of a felony. The warrant was rejected by Judge Thomas Hodges. The judge found probable cause that Xavier von Erck attempted to convince Gerald to commit a felony like statutory rape or child molestation and that his activities met the legal criteria of solicitation. However, Judge Hodges ruled that Xavier von Erck could not be prosecuted with solicitation since there was no actual fifteen-year-old victim and no "clear and present danger" that Gerald might have committed child molestation or statutory rape. Gerald later went before the Georgia Court of Appeals to reverse the ruling, citing that Georgia law defines solicitation as one person requesting another person to commit a crime, even if the crime is not actually committed. It is not known what happened afterwards.

## Death

Gerald died on February 8, 2013, at the age of 38 after a battle with cancer.

## Trivia

* In Season 11 Episode 08 of South Park, the episode has a segment based on **To Catch a Predator,** where multiple predators kill themselves upon meeting Chris Hansen. One of the predators in the episode shares a striking resemblance to Gerald.

## Notable Quotes

* *I'm not going to avoid the subject; i would like to make love to you after we are done boot shopping;* *i have a serious fetish for boots [from chatlog]*
* *the hypnolove [what sex while hypnotized is called, according to Gerald at least]*
* *Goooood...*
* *Ughhh....*
* *AHH DAMMIT! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!*

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 https://www.dailycitizen.news/news/local\_news/predator-guilty/article\_23f3dfbd-8857-5e39-9832-6a3777488f7e.html
2. ↑ https://www.dailycitizen.news/news/local\_news/catch-a-predator-trial-opens/article\_101f77bd-ea7f-5e45-8e3f-81a3774ca96d.html
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 https://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/man-convicted-in-whitfield-after-tv-sex-sting-will-seek-new-tria-region-new/article\_ff2c6a14-db9c-508b-9498-9ee205908be0.html
4. ↑ https://www.dailycitizen.news/news/local\_news/predator-suspect-gets-years/article\_91284c95-84a9-54d6-b566-d91d36e77356.html
5. ↑ http://www.perverted-justice.com/?con=gerald\_white30627
6. ↑ https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/latest-news/article29236990.html
7. ↑ https://www.augustachronicle.com/story/news/2007/09/19/met-144250-shtml/14698071007/
8. ↑ https://radaronline.com/exclusives/2008/10/xavier-von-erck-to-catch-a-predator-php/
9. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/104910654/robert-gerald-white