As a sexually curious 15-year-old boy, Andrew Ross went into chatrooms meant for adults. He met up with one of the men he chatted with. That man is now serving a 13-year prison sentence.

“It’s a pond for criminals,” said Andrew Ross.

  Watch the KGW report

The now 19-year-old speaks to law enforcement agents and parents about the dangers of the Internet.

“Once you get to the point of meeting a stranger,” said Ross, “Anything is possible.”

After chatting with the man for several hours, Andrew Ross decided to let the man pick him up at Ross’ Beaverton home. The man turned out to be John McPartlin, a Gresham middle school teacher.

Ross told police during the chats, McPartlin offered him cash and presents in return for sexual favors.

“You know, here’s $200, cigarettes, anything, whatever you want, we can just hang out,” said Ross.

McPartlin never sexually abused Ross. The teen said he told McPartlin to take him home after the boy got nervous in McPartlin’s car.

“It was like, what am I doing here! Good bye, See ya,” Ross told kgw.com.

Ross considers himself lucky. Prosecutors said McPartlin did molest other boys, including former students. McPartlin eventually entered a no contest plea to charges he enticed boys for sex online.

More: Keeping kids safe

Ross has no problem speaking publicly about what happened because he hopes other teens can learn from his story.

“I knew where the line was, and it got crossed,” said Ross, “Not everyone gets to runaway, some don’t have an option and that’s the danger.”

Ross now only uses the iIternet for studying and keeping up with world politics. Despite what happened to him, he still believes the Internet is a great place for children to socialize and explore.

He just hopes everyone’s aware of the potential dangers.

Ross said he knows parents teach their kids not to talk to strangers on the street. He hopes that rule applies to internet conversations too.

“It’s the same circumstances as if you were to go downtown,” said Ross, “Anything can happen.”