Forbidden Love

When 14-year-old Chad Collins met Tara Hulin in an Internet chat room, his parents were pleased he had found someone to confide in. But as 48 Hours reveals, their online friendship turned romantic, and eventually, illegal.

Chad, who lives in Houston, idolizes the British rock band Led Zeppelin.

In September, 1999, Chad found another fan he really connected with. He met Hulin, a 30-year-old mother of two living in North Carolina, over the Net; they quickly became cyber pen pals.

Despite the age difference, Chad's parents were supportive of the relationship, partly because Hulin, like their son, suffered from bipolar disorder. "I thought, 'Well gosh, not only is she bipolar, but it's another mom,'" says Chad's mother, Leslie Collins.

Chad says the hours spent online with Hulin helped him cope with depression. "I really couldn't talk to anybody except her. And I couldn't even talk to my therapist," he says.

As Chad became more involved with Hulin he was scarcely talking to his own family. Chad's parents suspected he was getting in over his head.

"I clarified to Tara that he was only 14 at the time, and that I thought that he had a schoolboy crush and just wanted to let her know that, from mother to mother, so that she would be careful not to lead him on," says Leslie Collins.

Hulin assured the Collins' that she would keep the relationship innocent. But in reality, the two had started an Internet romance.

"It was the best weekend of my life," says Chad. "I mean not just because of the sex. It was...everything we did."

When Chad's parents found out about Hulin's trip they went to the police.

"You have a variety of different pedophile types," says Harris County Lt. Langly McKelvy, who investigated the Hulin case. "You have the seducers, which she fits this particular type of profile, in which they convince the child they actually are in love with them and they act this scenario out."

After Chad admitted to the police that hey had had sex, FBI agents arrested her in North Carolina. She was transferred to Texas where having sex with a minor can carry a 30-year prison sentence.

Where Chad saw true love, McKelvy sees manipulation common among predators. "In this way they're able to seduce this child, and in doing so manipulate them into getting what they want - which is they want to have sex," he says.

To avoid a trial, Tara Hulin agreed to a plea bargain. She was sentenced to two years in prison and five years probation after her release. She is now required to register as a sex offender.

Chad's mother says she never realized the Internet could be such treacherous territory. Says Leslie Collins, "I should have never let him talk to an adult online."

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