Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Three men, including one who allegedly backed his truck into a squad car trying to get away, were arrested in the latest computer sex sting operation conducted this past week by the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department.
Richard L. Vaughn, 58, of Griffith, Indiana, was arrested Saturday.
Steven A. Mathews, 32, of Centuria, was taken into custody Tuesday.
A third suspect — a 36-year-old Abrams man — was arrested Thursday night. Charges were expected to be filed Friday.
In all cases, the men responded to online ads placed by sheriff’s detectives posing as a 15-year-old girl.
Texts and emails were exchanged that became sexually graphic in nature and the men arranged to meet with the supposed 15-year-old for sex, according to the criminal complaints. They were arrested when they showed up at the rendezvous.
The complaint filed against Vaughn states he backed his truck into an unmarked squad car that pulled up behind him when deputies moved in to make their arrest. He surrendered after that.
The complaint states authorities found sleeping pills and Viagra in Vaughn’s possession, as well as sexual paraphernalia and several knives.
According to the complaint, Vaughn offered in his second email to come to Shawano to pick the girl up and bring her to his cabin in Tomahawk. He wrote that his brother was also there and “would play.”
That email immediately followed an email sent by sheriff’s detectives in which the supposed girl states she is 15 years old, according to a printout of the emails included in the complaint.
Also according to the complaint, phone calls were exchanged with an undercover sheriff’s deputy posing as the girl in which Vaughn allegedly told her he had met a 16-year-old girl on Craigslist with whom he has had a sexual relationship for about five or six years.
Mathews traveled more than 200 miles to meet with the 15-year-old girl, according to the complaint. He showed up around 1 a.m., telling the girl he wanted to spend some time with his daughter before he left and buy condoms on the way.
He was arrested without incident when he arrived.
Each of the men could face 40 years in prison and a $100,000 fine if convicted of using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime.
Vaughn faces an additional charge of attempted child enticement, which carries maximum penalty of 25 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
Mathews, who was convicted of felony theft in Polk County earlier this year, also faces a charge of bail jumping, which carries a maximum six years and $10,000 fine.
Mathews was ordered held on a $2,500 cash bond and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Monday.
Vaughn posted a $10,000 cash bond and entered a plea of not guilty Thursday. He is scheduled for a pre-trial conference Dec. 15.