GENESEE COUNTY, Mich. – A sheriff described how police used chat messages to catch seven Michigan men who were trying to meet up with young girls for sex.
Christopher Swanson, the sheriff for Genesee County, said seven men were arrested as part of the latest GHOST (Genesee Human Oppression Strike Team) operation.
📄 RELATED: Camera in girl’s bedroom leads to Michigan man with 294 graphic images on phone
Officials posed as underage girls to identify potential child predators online, Swanson said.
Clifford Mitts, Devin Raymond, Christopher Cool, Terrion Moten, Jared Weaver, Jesus Valverde-Texta, and Stosh Gizinski were charged with accosting a child for immoral purposes, using a computer to commit a crime, and child sexually abusive activity on a computer.
Cool and Moten have not yet been formally arraigned, and charges are pending.
The men have bonded out, according to Swanson.
Mitts, 68, of Genesee County, is a retiree.
“He asked our decoy, ‘What’s the donation?’” Swanson said. “Many times, these predators try to minimize their actions by the words they use. They try to rationalize why they’re going, at 68 years old, to try to pick up a 15-year-old.”
Raymond, 44, of St. Clair Shores, works as a heating and cooling specialist.
“He came for a 15-year-old that was being sold by her trafficker,” Swanson said.
Cool, 29, of Grand Blanc, is self-employed in the construction industry.
“He was at first hinked up about the age,” Swanson said. “It was clear from our conversation that this wasn’t the first time it happened. … He came for a 15-year-old female.”
Moten, 23, is from Saginaw County.
“He knew from the beginning that it was wrong,” Swanson said. “In fact, in one of his chats, he said, ‘OMG, you are 15.’ Then when he was arrested, he screamed, ‘No, no no.’”
Weaver, 30, of Clare County, is a truck driver.
“Jared Weaver chatted with us for over two days,” Swanson said. “At any point, he could have had a break in the conversation, thinking, ‘What am I doing?’ He traveled all the way after two days of talking down to Clare and wanted to have sex with our juvenile underage victim.”
Valverde-Texta, 29, of Pontiac, is a landscaper. He told the chatter that he was 17, and his max bid was $70, Swanson said.
Gizinski, 39, of Lapeer County, is a roofer.
“He just came by for a 10-minute quickie,” Swanson said. “There was no concern of the age, and (he) even states, ‘No drama.’ Just wanted to come in and come out.”