'I'm not a predator. I have sexual addiction.'

"He has a Constitutional right to be stupid,"

A suspended state trooper testified at his trial Monday that he believed he was chatting with adults playing roles when he exchanged sexually explicit commentary and sent obscene images to cops posing as 14-year-old girls.

"It was just a fantasy world, something I would create in my head," Kevin Hardoin said in Macomb County Circuit Court. "I had my own world in my head and allowed them to do what they wanted in their own head."

Hardoin, 45, of Chesterfield Township, is charged with 13 counts of offenses related to engaging in sexually explicit chats on the Internet with underage girls and sending them video of him masturbating. The girls were actually middle-aged men from the state Attorney General's Office in the office's computer crime unit.

Hardoin told defense attorney Richard Convertino he learned the reasons for his behavior in therapy.

"My goals were self-centered," he said. "I was looking for my own satisfaction. ... I'm not a predator. I have sexual addiction."

Hardoin faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, charged with 13 counts of computer crimes related to enticing or soliciting someone under age 16 to engage in immoral behavior. He is accused of engaging in several chats from September to November 2006.

An 11-woman, three-man jury is expected to begin deliberating this morning after hearing Hardoin testify and attorneys make closing arguments Monday afternoon.

The trial is one of the rare instances in Macomb County of a defendant charged with computer-related sex crimes fighting the charges in a trial.

Hardoin, who was assigned as a desk supervisor at the Richmond Post of the Michigan State Police, was suspended when he was arrested last March.

Assistant Attorney General Andrea Bailey argued in her closing that the chats' contents prove Hardoin believed he was interacting with young girls because he asked them about their parents and school. "He targets young girls," Bailey said. "He assures they're isolated so he can have sexually explicit chats with them."

He enticed the subjects to engage in sexual activity as he did, and he sent them video, she said.

She told jurors: "If that was your children, if that was your grandchildren, would that be OK with you? Would that be reasonable?"

In one chat, Hardoin talks about having sex with her as her stepfather. In another chat he wants to have sex with her while her mother watches.

Bailey pointed out that Hardoin makes nearly no effort to try to determine whether his chat "buddies" are adults or young girls.

Bailey noted that Hardoin was not completely truthful when he was interviewed March 19 by Special Agent Michael Ondejko of the state Attorney General's Office at the Richmond Post, the same day as his arrest. He replied that he didn't recall or was unsure to 21 simple questions, she noted.

But Hardoin also says in the audiotape interview, which was played in court: "I think she (one of the young-girl personas) was older. I think she was like 19. She said younger, but for some reason I thought she was older (by) just the way she talked."

In his closing argument, Convertino admitted the jury may think the chats are "disgusting" and "perverted," and may not like Hardoin for his obscene commentary. But, "It is not a crime," he said.

"He has a Constitutional right to be stupid," he said.

Hardoin chatted with girls' names "kelli_kelli," who also used "princess_kelli14," and "caitlyn_caitlyn," who also used "_n_ur_dreams13." Hardoin initiated contact in a Yahoo.com adult chat room under the "romance" category and subcategory "michigan."

Hardoin also early this year chatted similarly with Deputy Lisa Kish of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office. Hardoin was not charged for those chats, but Kish testified about them as part of "other acts" evidence to show a pattern of behavior.

To show Hardoin believed the cyber cops weren't young girls, Convertino said people chatting in the rooms had to type in their birthdates to enter. Officer Ondejko testified that officers routinely claim they are adults to enter the rooms even though they are posing as underage girls.

Hardoin testified Yahoo's guidelines made him believe his chat friends were adults.

"You have to be 18 to chat in Yahoo," he said. "I read most of the rules in Yahoo. ... The disclaimer was very important to me."

Hardoin admitted he chatted virtually every day from his home computer during that time period when he had an off day from work. Cops traced information left by his computer to his home address.

Convertino noted that Hardoin stopped chatting with both undercover personas when he suspected they might be underage. The trooper declined invitations by "kelli" to meet him in a hotel room and failed to respond to four requests by "kelli" from last January to early March to continue chatting.

Convertino raised questions about the prosecution's failure to present to the jury photos of the officers' personas. Convertino inferred the photos showed young adult girls, when cops should be sending photos of preteen girls to accurately reflect their personas.

"You should also consider strongly about what you weren't shown and think about why you were shown (the photos)," he said. "Before you put a man in prison, we want it (that the girls were underage) clear as a bell."

Police seized Hardoin's home computer and did not find any child pornography, although they did find many photos of "naked young women," Bailey said.

Hardoin, who has been married for two years and has a 5-month-old child, said he initially began chatting when he was "single and lonely." He discovered in recent months in therapy sessions he was "self-medicating" for "clinical depression."

Convertino also tried to appeal to the jury's sympathies. He noted Hardoin, a 15-year MSP veteran, has paid a great price.

"He lost his livelihood, careers and what he has as a family; he is a broken man," he said.