9 suspects have been arrested over the weekend on online sex corruption charges in Portland, Oregon.
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office has said the 9 people were caught during an undercover law enforcement sting operation to stop child sex trafficking.
“Operation Kidsafe” undercover detectives posed as children under the age of 14 years old online. They contacted the suspects and set up meetings in Clackamas County on November 17th-19th.
However, unbeknownst to the suspects, rather than being met by the children like they thought they were “greeted by law enforcement professionals,” the sheriff’s office stated.
Operation Kidsafe was undertaken by INTERCEPT, the Inter-agency Child Exploitation Prevention Team. It was a joint operation involving numerous agencies including The Clackamas and Multnomah County Sheriff’s Offices, Washington State Highway Patrol, Department of Homeland Security, Oregon State Police, Oregon City Police, the Clackamas County DA’s Office, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Oregon.
Behind the Scenes picture Courtesy of the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.
The 9 men arrested range in age from 25 to 66 years old; they all face different charges and have had bail set at different rates. Katu 2 News has released a more detailed list on all suspects.
They have reported that these are the men who have been arrested:
- 43-year-old Shawn Michael Richardson on a charge of online sex corruption of a child. His bail is set at $20,000.
- 25-year-old Patrick Anthony Douglas Lovato on two counts of online sex corruption of a child, and encouraging child sex abuse II. His bail is set at $60,000.
- 38-year-old David Hunter Duvall on charges of luring a minor and online sex corruption of a child. His bail is set at $30,000.
- 21-year-old Nathan Kevin Jump on a charge of online sexual corruption of a child. His bail is set at $20,000.
- 66-year-old Douglas Scott Hewitt on a charge of online sexual corruption of a child. His bail is set at $20,000.
- 41-year-old Kyle Gregory Johnson on charges of luring a minor and online sex corruption of a child. His bail is set at $30,000.
- 45-yer-old Mahoney McKeon on two counts of online sex corruption of a child. His bail is set at $40,000.
- 49-year-old Ryan Christopher Vanderzanden on charges of luring a minor and online sex corruption of a child. His bail is set at $30,000.
- 46-year-old Vincent Gregory Rundo on charges of luring a minor and online sex corruption of a child. His bail is set at $30,000.
Clackamas County Sheriff, Craig Roberts said“For an operation like this to be successful — and this one was very successful — it requires time, resources and money from a number of partner agencies. Front-line troops and leaders from local, regional and federal agencies really came together for this one. Preventing child exploitation is a huge priority for the Sheriff’s Office and the cornerstone of INTERCEPT’s mission. We couldn’t be prouder.”
44 professionals were involved in the sting including people from IT to surveillance to arrest, investigation and to prosecution. The sting involved setting up a “meeting place” and as the suspects arrived for what they thought would involve sexual interaction with children under the age of 14; they were in fact met with the law.