He had good intentions, but a good Samaritan ended up in handcuffs and that wasn't the end of it. On a cold evening, he offered a ride home to a pair of children he knows. The case went before a jury in Tekamah, Nebraska where the man and the law were put on trial.

As a trained EMT, Jake Aronson says it's part of his nature to offer help, even just a ride home to two 13-year-old girls. “I recognized who they were and knew who their parents were and they were wearing tank tops and shorts and it was getting really cold out.”

On that cold night a year ago, Aronson went from good Samaritan to a suspect accused of bad intentions. “I asked them if they needed a ride home.”

Instead of getting in the vehicle, the two girls ran to a friend’s house and told her that someone had tried to pick them up. A mother at that house called police.

Aronson was not only arrested for misdemeanor child enticement, but impersonating an officer because he turned on his volunteer EMT lights. “I turned the light on so they could see my face and I said now you know who I am.”

Before getting his day in court, Aronson lived a year in the eyes of a small town. “It was like everyone staring at me like they thought I was some sick criminal.”

It took a jury of six just 45 minutes to find Aronson not guilty. “The jury shows me that they have a lot of common sense, that they rejected this idea that we're going to prosecute a good Samaritan,” said defense attorney James Martin Davis.

Though not involved in the case in another jurisdiction, Omaha City Prosecutor Marty Conboy says the law gives children under 14 an umbrella of protection.

“If it's a rainy day and the kid's walking home from school, that's not an emergency. You would not be entitled to basically entice someone into your car even with good intentions.”

Aronson says he won't stop helping people, but he's learned it’s not enough be a good Samaritan, you have to be a smart one. “I won't be able to stop unless it's a true emergency and someone is laying on the road bleeding.”

Think about Nebraska's enticement law before offering a ride to a child. The law says you cannot coax, entice or lure a child under 14 into a vehicle. There are exceptions, such as if your job is to supervise and protect children or if you have specific permission from a parent.

Even if you know the child, it's "no go" if you don't have that permission. The main defense against the charge of enticement is proving a child was involved in a bona fide emergency.