Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
The arrests this past week of three men in a computer sex sting operation brings to 43 the number of suspected child predators nabbed in Shawano County since March of 2013.
The operation originated with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force and involved undercover investigators working with local law enforcement to make online contact with suspected offenders.
The first operations, in March and September of 2013, were conducted regionally and involved law enforcement agencies in six counties, including Shawano.
Known as Operation Black Veil, those efforts netted 33 arrests, including two in Shawano County.
The Shawano County Sheriff’s Department subsequently began conducting its own local operations, which involved a sheriff’s detective posing as a 15-year-old child on the internet, placing ads on Craigslist and other online forums.
The suspects responded to the ads, exchanging texts and emails that became sexually graphic and setting up a sexual rendezvous. They were arrested when they arrived.
Detective Sgt. Gordon Kowaleski said this latest operation, which netted two suspects, was pared down from previous efforts.
“We always like to do some because we know the threat is out there. We know this is going on,” he said. “We didn’t put a bunch of guys on like we normally do, where we’re going around the clock for five days. We just threw an ad out to see what would happen.”
The last two full-scale operations each resulted in six arrests.
The arrest Tuesday of Steven A. Mathews, 32, of Centuria, involved what might be among the furthest a suspect has traveled for an alleged sexual rendezvous with a child.
“The last guy drove 3½ hours, halfway across the state,” Detective Jesse Sperberg said.
Kowaleski said the average drive time has been 45 minutes, with most suspects coming from Green Bay, the Fox Valley, Oconto County and a few points north.
“Our ads are local, but these guys are reaching out and searching,” Kowaleski said.
“We’re a mobile society today,” he said. “Not only are we mobile, but we’re mobile in a virtual world today. There are no limits, there are no boundaries. You have the world at your finger tips.”
One thing that continues to puzzle detectives is why suspects continue to take the bait in these sting operations in spite of seeming to know it could be sting.
In many of the cases, the suspects have either said they have read about such operations or asked the supposed 15-year-old if they were a cop.
“They almost all say that,” Sperberg said. “It’s almost like when they show up they expect to be arrested. ‘It’s the cops and I kind of figured that, but I tried anyway.’”
In most cases, the suspect immediately surrendered, but there have been exceptions.
Richard L. Vaughn, 58, of Griffith, Indiana, who was arrested Saturday, allegedly tried to get away by backing his truck into an unmarked squad car as it pulled up behind him.
One suspect managed to elude the squad cars and led authorities on a high-speed chase before he was captured.
“It’s not always a simple matter when they show up because you don’t know what could happen,” Kowaleski said.
He noted that one suspect had a loaded .45 caliber handgun in the center console of his car, though he didn’t try to use it.
“Safety is always the number one concern in planning these,” Kowaleski said.
Sperberg said the cases show why it’s important that parents have good communication with their kids and keep an eye on what they’re doing online.
Sperberg said he has run across some actual juveniles online during these operations, including a 15-year-old from this area.
“I ended up speaking with him and his family,” he said.
Sperberg said he has also seen a number of juveniles posting inappropriate images of themselves on various chat websites.
The youngest was 11 years old, he said.
“That’s what I’m busy with a lot, dealing with these complaints of kids actually on the internet,” Sperberg said.
In many cases, the juveniles are blackmailed to provide more increasingly graphic photos, he said.
Kowaleski said he would like to see more community education about these internet dangers.
He said he and Sperberg are available for group presentations, which can be arranged by contacting them at the sheriff’s department, 715-526-3111.