Eugene Police said they’ve started an undercover social media sting operation to catch sexual predators, and their results are eye-opening.
Detectives posted on a social media site as an underage teen on Friday morning. Within 3 hours they received 85 texts from different numbers, all from people hoping to meet up with who they thought was a young female.
“Scary to think an innocent posting can get that kind of response. The message isn’t sexually explicit, it has nothing to do with sex,” said Special Investigations Sgt. Scott McKee.
http://liarcatchers.com/pedophile_tracking.html
The sergeant said his department has been undercover since July, posting to social media as young teens who may “need someone to talk to.”
He said the communication instantly turns sexual.
“(With) these operations we’re learning that this is happening here and that our children are vulnerable,” said Sgt. McKee.
So far they’ve arrested 8 people, including Jorge Guzman Tapia who was arrested in Friday’s sting.
The man though he was meeting a young girl inside DSW Shoe Store in Eugene. An undercover detective was able to identify Guzman-Tapia, who answered the phone when officers called him back after texting to meet up.
Seven others are in the Lane County Jail on charges of first-degree online corruption of a minor, which Sgt. McKee described as all the suspects allegedly agreed to have sex with a child under 15.
“If they’re responding to these ads, they’ve done it before. That’s the worry. That there’s children being victimized and we’re just scratching the surface,” said Sgt. McKee.
Police say this should be a warning to parents, who should monitor your children’s online usage and know who they’re communicating with.
“There’s people out there, adults, that are manipulating your children and you as a parent don’t necessarily know who your child is communicating with,” the sergeant said.
