COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – An Indiana man will spend up to seven years in prison after he entered guilty pleas to a pair of charges involving computer sex crimes.
24-year-old Ryan Graber of Goshen, Indiana was sentenced on Monday in Branch County Circuit Court after he 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.
According to Coldwater Police, Graber used an on-line dating app to get acquainted with the 14-year-old female.
Police said they started to meet at a motel in Coldwater. Graber admitted during an interview with Goshen and Coldwater Police he was aware how old she was.
The victim’s grandmother 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. He used a number of aliases which added several months to the investigation before it was completed with his arrest in Elkhart County.
A second suspect in the case, 31-year-old Christopher Schmidt of Connersville, Indiana was arrested about a month later.
