COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – An Indiana man who was charged for an alleged computer sex crime involving a 14-year old girl entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors on Monday in Branch County Circuit Court.
24-year-old Ryan Graber of Goshen, Indiana entered guilty pleas to using a computer in the commission of a crime and child accosting for immoral purposes. In exchange for the guilty pleas, three counts of third degree criminal sexual conduct were dismissed by prosecutors.
Graber is scheduled to be sentenced on February 12th.
According to Coldwater Police, Graber got acquainted with the victim through an on-line dating app in March when they began to share explicit photos. Police said in the spring they started to meet at a motel in Coldwater with Graber admitting during an interview with Goshen and Coldwater Police to just one meet and greet with the teenager and confessing he was aware of how old she was.
The victim had been living in Coldwater with her grandmother, who called police in July to report the girl missing after the woman found the teen’s cell phone in the house. Authorities said a forensic exam of the phone led them to Graber, who used a number of aliases which added several months to the investigation before it was completed with the suspect’s arrest in Elkhart County.
A second suspect in the case, 31-year-old Christopher Schmidt of Connersville, Indiana was arrested about a month later.
