MI- Internet predator sting nabs men in GR

10-22-2008 Michigan: (Phase-I)

GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) -- Twenty-one men were arrested for soliciting sex from underage girls over the Internet during a three-day sting at a Grand Rapids Township home.

For weeks, volunteers with the group Perverted Justice have chatted with 200 men from Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. The suspects had already contacted the "teens" - adults acting as decoys - in online chat rooms. The decoys then agreed to meet the suspects for sex.

One by one the men showed up at the door as Del Harvey, a young-looking 26-year-old volunteer with Perverted Justice, greeted them. The men thought they were following their 13-year-old date. Instead, they were met with armed agents and deputies.

"You've go to be kidding me" said one of the suspects as he was handcuffed and led away.

24 Hour News 8 obtained exclusive access to the operation, which began Friday afternoon and was conducted by the Michigan Attorney General's Office and Kent County Sheriff's Department.

Of those arrested, 24 Hour News 8 has found that only a few had criminal records prior to this weekend's arrests. Most were minor run-ins with the law, including delivery of marijuana, disturbing the peace and misdemeanor larceny.

The criminal histories, or in many cases the lack of any, goes along with what many experts have warned. These predators could be anyone, including the innocent-acting guy next door.

"What we hope, quite frankly, working with your station, is that for a long time, predators think twice, or three or four times, before they think about showing up to meet some kid -- 13- or 14-year-old -- from the greater Grand Rapids area," said Attorney General Michael Cox.

Some of the men drove more than 100 miles to the home where the sting occurred. Others made much shorter trips, from Wyoming and Byron Center. ..News Source.. by Joe LaFurgey