MI- Sex sting suspect took bait quickly, court told

11-21-2008 Michigan: (Phase-II)

GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP -- Only hours after his first online meeting with someone he believed was a 14-year-old boy, ____ was in handcuffs at the Kent County Sheriff's Department.

___'s conversation with what turned out to be a decoy for an Internet sex predator sting likely was one of the briefest cyber relationships among 20 suspects arrested the weekend of Oct. 18.

Others busted for allegedly corresponding with decoys -- who were portraying themselves as young boys or girls -- chatted for four to six weeks on the Internet.

Details about ____'s case and the inner workings of last month's predator sting emerged Thursday during a probable-cause hearing for ____, 24, of Grand Rapids, possibly the only suspect who chose to go ahead with the hearing.

Most of the suspects have waived their hearings and now face trial in Kent County Circuit Court, although seven men still await probable-cause hearings before 63rd District Judge Sara Smolenski.

Smolenski ordered ____ and another suspect, 20-year-old ____ of Cedar Springs, to stand trial. ____, who waived his hearing, was this fall's boys junior varsity soccer coach at Cedar Springs High School.

Thursday's testimony showed ____ responded to a classified ad on the Web site Craigslist that simply said: "Looking for friend. Gay or bi friends" followed by a Yahoo and AOL instant messaging name. The ad included a picture of a boy portrayed as the advertiser, but who actually was 41-year-old Greg Brainer, of Milford, a volunteer for the national group Perverted Justice.

Brainer went by the screen name Beltlinedog.

____, going by shy_guy_99, responded to the ad not long after it was posted and struck up a conversation, according to evidence.

Brainer testified that, only a few minutes later, ____ asked: "Do you do naughty things on a cam?" and later told Beltlinedog "You got a nice bod."

___ sent Brainer a file with body shots of a young, toned man he claimed was him, but was not. He later sent photos of someone he claimed was his roommate, but was really ____, Brainer testified.

--It appears that PJ-Brainer was the one who FIRST sent photos to ____, photos that may have been child porn. PJ has refused to allow a court to look at their computers, and according to these news reports, offenders have UPLOADED child porn to PJ computers; what has happened to that child porn? Is it now being used in this sting (..body shots of a young, toned MAN [or child])?

"He didn't think the (boy) would be interested in the way he looked, but he might be interested in the younger, thinner picture," Michigan Attorney General Special Agent Mike Ondejko recounted from an interview with ____ after his arrest.

In the interview, ____ said he later "went to a house under the assumption he was going to receive sexual services," thinking he was talking to a 14-year-old boy named Devon. Police also found condoms and lubricant.

____'s attorney, however, suggested ____ never intended a sexual encounter, based on two statements to Brainer that he only wanted to instruct the minor on engaging in safe sex. He also questioned the legality of the sting, partly because Brainer portrayed himself as a teen to Craigslist when the Web site's rules require advertisers to be 18.

____ began talking with the decoy at 9:47 a.m. on Oct. 19, according to Brainer, and was arrested at 5:32 p.m. the same day after arranging to meet the boy at a Grand Rapids Township home where the sting was set up. The Kent County Sheriff's Department, Perverted Justice and the Attorney General's office collaborated on the effort. ..News Source.. by John Tunison, The Grand Rapids Press