MARSHALL, MI (WTVB) – A 60-year-old man from Concord was arrested last Friday by the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office Rescuing, Humanity, Intervention, Neighborhood, Operations (RHINO) Team after they conducted an undercover operation with the assistance of the Marshall Police Department. RHINO conducts operations and investigates the use of social media platforms by adults who want to find under-age children for the purpose of having sex.
Deputies posed as a 14-year-old girl and chatted with the suspect who they say is a volunteer firefighter.
The Sheriff’s Department says after he was told that the person he was speaking to was 14, the suspect sent nude photographs of himself standing next to a fire truck.
The suspect came to Marshall thinking he was going to meet and have a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl but when he arrived and knocked on the door, he was greeted by Sheriff’s Office deputies from the special response team. Despite trying to escape when he realized what was going on, he was quickly arrested and taken to the Calhoun County Jail.
Sheriff Steve Hinkley says this person does not represent the volunteers in the community that protect residents in the areas of volunteer fire fighting, law-enforcement, and rescue services. He added, “I don’t think any parent would allow their child to walk into a dark abandon building at night to explore. In many cases, when a child clicks on a link or enters an app or a chat room, that is exactly what they’re doing.”
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