I sexted what I thought was a minor, knowingly.

For context, I am a 22 years old male, and I deeply regret what I've done.

Background information; growing up I was a very sexually repressed child, my parents weren't the best with teaching me everything I was supposed to know without making it seem like I would get in trouble. This caused me to keep a lot of my private from them, and to fear being outed as a sexual being, despite every pubescent teenager feeling like I did.

I would frequently visit sights like omegle, and make different Snapchat accounts in attempts to get some sort of attention from an adult, anything to feel wanted. This persisted from the ages of 13-17ish.

A couple of weeks ago I made a new Snapchat account in an attempt to catfish an ex coworker of mine(I had just quit this job before this happened, no correlation with the incident), a 17 year old boy. I said a lot that shouldn't have been said, and no nudes were sent by him.

In the following week I immediately sought out therapy for what I had done, just to make some sort of effort to fix whatever is wrong with me, I just wanted to be better. I had a good first meeting with my therapist, and I learned a lot about myself and why my brain functions how it does.

That brings us to tonight. Some of the friends, and other fellow ex coworkers started calling and messaging me, demanding I give them money. I sent them $150 so they would "make it go away". (No, this is not a scam, this is a real blackmail situation).

After I sent the money, I kept getting harassed, and decided the best option would be to go to the police and turn myself in. I had no lawyer, and I called 911 at 2 AM to let them know I wanted to turn myself in for a crime. I drove to my local police department, met with a couple of officers, and had a discussion.

I told them everything that had happened, including everything that I had said to the kid, and everything involving the blackmail situation. They told me according to the statutes, they couldn't actually charge me with Online Solicitation of a Minor, and that because no nudes were sent by the minor, child pornography was off the table.

I checked again with the officer, and he reassured me there was nothing they could charge me with. What I had done was not illegal.

I plan on telling my parents what I've done in the morning, so if the friends of the victim decide to send the images they have, it won't be a surprise to them.

I'm not looking for sympathy on this post, if anything I'm prepared to be scrutinized for what ives done. Thank you.