8-19-2009 Michigan Phase-I:
A retired Detroit police officer, a grocery store clerk, a security guard, and postal carrier are among the nine men jailed this weekend in an undercover sting that targeted men who wanted sex with a minor.
Each of the nine men was arraigned Monday in Livingston County District Court on 20-year felony charges of child abusive commercial activity and using a computer to commit the crime. They are being held in the county jail on $200,000 bond.
"It's obviously a serious problem; certainly troubling," Tom Cameron, chief of the attorney general's Criminal Justice Bureau, said at a Monday news conference held at the Sheriff's Department. "We believe this was a successful sting ...
"We can't arrest our way out of this problem," he added, a reference to the number of predators targeting youngsters online.
Armed Livingston County sheriff's deputies arrested the men as they came to an undisclosed Livingston County home or a local fast-food restaurant parking lot to have sex with a 14-year-old boy or girl who was actually an undercover officer.
The investigation began months ago, when the men used various online communications, including Craigslist and instant messaging, to talk with a person they thought was a child and culminated in the three-day sting, which occurred between noon Friday and 9 a.m. Sunday.
I wonder, having never been on Craigslist, is there a chatroom section for minors? If not, why would Perverted Justice be in an adult chatroom talking as a minor? DO minors visit such places placing themselves at risk? Questions abound here..
As many as 150 people communicated with the decoys from Perverted Justice, a nonprofit organization that specializes in identifying online predators.
Interesting note, today the media provided two transcripts ( #1 and #2 ) of the alleged interactions with a minor (police decoy), but those transcripts only cover the period of discussion over the weekend.
The transcripts fail to show what actually occurred in the months beforehand in discussions with Perverted-Justice (PJ) decoys. The techniques used by PJ decoys is unknown, but given discussions transpired over a significant period of time, it resulted in a trust developed to setup the final discussion with a police officer.
In another sting related news article they report that "perverted justice monitors online chat rooms and websites," there it was Craigslist "Casual Encounters." One has to wonder if the men arrested this weekend were lured -over time- from such a chat room through trust developing techniques (possibly discussing sexual issues not necessarily with minors), then setup in today's reported sting. That may very well be how they hone their techniques. Finally, one has to wonder if -absent the PJ trust developing techniques- would these men actually do what they did this weekend?
Cameron said authorities are pursing charges against those individuals who did not show up at the decoy house, and that those individuals had indicated in their chats that they wouldn't meet because of their concerns about police stings.
"Of those 150, there's a subset of 50 that have actually gone to the point of setting up a meeting, talked about sex, wanted to have sex and know the age of the child, and know what they're doing," Dennis Ker of Perverted Justice told WXYZ Channel 7 in Detroit.
Cameron said one decoy posted that he was a 14-year-old boy and he received more than 100 hits from people wanting to have sex or "some relationship" with the "boy."
One of the nine arrested was _____, a 49-year-old security guard from Monroe County who thought he was meeting a 14-year-old girl. As police arrested him, he said, "I didn't mean to do this, guys, please!" Channel 7 reported. He said he used to be a military police officer.
_____ declined the Daily Press & Argus' request for an interview, but he told Channel 7 that despite the sexually explicit conversations, he really isn't a predator.
"I don't go out there every day stalking people, because I know better," he said. "Why I did this, I have no idea. I don't need to be a predator,"
To explain why he drove 72 miles to meet a child, _____ said: "Well, today I was coming up as an adult going to talk to a child. I wasn't going to do anything. They searched me. If I was going to do something, I would have protection on me."
Suspect _____, 47, of Grand Rapids, was arrested at an area McDonald's parking lot after coming to the county to have sex with a person he thought was a 14-year-old boy. Police said _____ had condoms, lubricant and pornographic videos when he was arrested.
In an online conversation, _____ asks the decoy "when do you turn 15?" The decoy asks how old _____ is and he replies: "I'm 47, would that be too old to get together?"
_____ also discusses taking a shower with the decoy and reassures him that he is "clean, disease free and HIV neg. (sic)."
Sheriff Bob Bezotte said he was not surprised by the diverse men arrested in the sting.
"They come from all walks of life," he said. "It's disconcerting to learn how many people engage in this activity."
Also among those arrested are:
# Retired Detroit Police Officer _____, 53, who counseled the undercover agent on how to avoid saving chat logs and threatened to kill himself if he was turned in. He was arrested at a nearby fast-food restaurant parking lot.
# _____, 40, of Clawson, who spent $110 for a cab ride to Livingston County to meet a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl named Samantha. Custer, who allegedly told the online decoy, "I wanna have sex with you," was arrested after arriving at the home on foot.
# _____, 37, of Eastpointe, who thought he was meeting a 14-year-old boy. At the last minute, _____, a disc jockey, told police that he wanted to meet at McDonald's, which is where police arrested him in the parking lot.
# _____, 29, of Columbus, Ohio, told police that he is an Indian citizen in the United States for about a month as a software programmer. He told police that he took a cab to the decoy home after taking a bus from Columbus to Detroit.
# _____, 50, of Flint, who is a postal carrier.
# _____, 24, of Flint, a Frito-Lay employee.
# _____, 29, of Rochester Hills, a software designer.
The sting was the combined efforts of Michigan attorney general's office, county Sheriff's Department and Perverted Justice.
Bezotte said state authorities previously conducted a similar sting in Western Michigan, but chose Livingston County this time because it was a central location to lure the predators. ..Source.. by Lisa Roose-Church
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