Tuesday, April 11, 2000
Radio host tried to lure girl for sex
Fox convicted after Internet sting
By Jim Hannah
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A Cincinnati country-music radio personality used the Internet to try to lure someone he thought was a teen-ager into having sex.
Jim Fox, who hosts the popular WUBE—FM morning show, was convicted Monday after pleading no contest in Greene County Municipal Court to a fourth-degree misdemeanor charge of soliciting a minor.
Mr. Fox, whose real name is Allen Pruett, was arrested by Xenia police Saturday in an undercover Internet sting. A Xenia detective was in an Internet chat room as “Curious 'N Cute,” posing as a 14-year-old girl from Xenia.
He was fined $250, sentenced to 30 days in jail (suspended), and put on probation for five years. He was also ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation.
A message left at Mr. Fox's home Monday afternoon was not returned.
John Rohm, executive vice president of WUBE, said Mr. Fox is on administrative leave. He did not broadcast his program on Monday.
“We're still on a fact-finding mission,” Mr. Rohm said. “It is our policy not to make a statement until we know all the facts.”
Mr. Fox is a longtime Cincinnati radio personality. He was program director and morning DJ at WKRQ-FM in the 1970s. He later worked for WKRC-AM and has been been at WUBE-FM since 1992. Mr. Fox hosts the No. 2 morning radio show in the Tristate at the area's No. 1 ranked country station. WUBE-FM is the third most-listened-to station in the market.
Xenia Police Lt. Dan Donahue said the arrest should be a reminder to parents.
“Make sure you know who your kids are talking to when they are on the Internet.”
Mr. Donahue said Mr. Fox chatted online for two days with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl but was really a Xenia detective. He even dedicated a song on the air to the girl: Shania Twain's “Honey, I'm Home.”
When he drove to Greene County to meet the girl, he found Xenia police waiting.
Mr. Donahue said Mr. Fox showed up at 9:30 p.m. Saturday in a Xenia park in his Ford Explorer, with a box of condoms, beer and quilts to cover the vehicle's floor.
Xenia police said Mr. Fox acted calmly and was arrested without incident. Mr. Donahue said this is the first arrest in an Internet sting operating out of his office for the past month.
Four Xenia officers have been combing the Internet part time for sexual predators after California authorities arrested a Xenia man on charges of sending child pornography over the Internet.
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