A Canton man insisted that he was role-playing when he transmitted pornographic images via the Internet to a girl he thought was 13 years old who turned out to be an undercover Peachtree City police officer in January.

Mahesh Patel took the stand in his own defense Monday afternoon, saying that although the officer tried to meet him, she resisted his advances. Patel did admit that he gave the officer his cellphone number and asked her to call him.

A jury will begin deliberating the case Wednesday morning. Patel is charged with two counts of violating the computer pornography and child exploitation act and one count of obscene internet contact.

The undercover officer testified that she told the man she was 13 years old although the chat room she met him in requires persons to be at least 18 years old to participate. The officer showed the jury explicit photos that Patel sent her in an online chat.

Patel also sent photos of himself and his two girls in what he called an effort to show the girl he was a family man. Patel said the chat room was designed for adults to share sexually explicit conduct.

"I thought that was an adult role-playing," Patel testified. "... I had no intention of meeting her."
The undercover officer testified that the photo she sent Patel was taken when she was about 24 years old. Patel said he thought by the photo that the undercover officer was 20. She is now 29 years old.

Prosecutor Randy Coggin then asked Patel why he asked during the chat why the girl was home at 9:45 in the morning, during school hours.

Coggin also noted that Patel said online during one of the chats that he could get into trouble for chatting with the girl.

Police arrested Patel at his dry cleaning business in Canton after he declined to meet the undercover officer.

The officer testified that the day he was arrested, she went into the business first on a ruse that she was picking up dry cleaning in an effort to insure he was there before other officers went in. The officer became nervous when Patel began referring to a second computer, worried that he was trying to look up the photo she had sent to determine it was her who he was attending to in the store.

The officer noted that a search warrant conducted on Patel did not turn up any juvenile porn or similar items.

A written statement Patel filed with police immediately after the arrest was allowed into evidence over the objection of Patel's attorney, Paul Liston.

Although Patel first indicated on the written form that he wanted to speak to an attorney first, he changed his mind on the spot, testified Capt. Rosanna Dove.

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