Cooperative effort results in several arrests

A proactive, cooperative effort among area law enforcement agencies resulted in a number of arrests recently -- Hollywood style.

The Kennett Police Department Special Response Team (SRT), assisted by the Bootheel Drug Task Force (BDTF) and the Kennett Police Department under the direct supervision of Pemiscot County Sheriff Tommy Greenwell and Kennett Police Department Chief Barry Tate conducted an Internet sex sting at Kennett.

More than a dozen men were arrested -- some from as far away as St. Louis and Fort Leonard Wood -- who trolled the Internet searching for sex with children, a BDTF agent told The Daily Dunklin Democrat.

Greenwell saw a Dateline NBC television program that depicted a similar sting, snagged the idea and ran with it, Tate said.

"We have more than 90 sex offenders here in Pemiscot County," Greenwell said. "I just put two and two together and got to thinking about it.

"Lots of times, these sex offenders, when they get online, they try to lure these kids with drugs and everything else," he continued. "So I thought it would be a good operation to see what the task force could do. I brought it to their attention one day that I'd like to try a trial operation and see what kind of response we'd get on the sexual predator end of it, and try to see if we could make any drug cases out of it."

Tate said his officers and BDTF agents involved in the operation posed as girls and boys as young as 13 years old in Internet chat rooms, and were approached for sex nearly immediately by more suspects than they cared to count.

"We rented a house here in town, just like anybody would go about renting a house," Tate said. "We outfitted it with a sofa and a table or two in the living room, and a refrigerator so the guys could keep drinks and food there."

But that's as far as furnishings went, unless one counts as home necessities a dining room outfitted with a table, a few chairs, and eight computers manned by uniformed officers and plain-clothes agents, all accessing the Internet to chat with would-be sexual predators, the chief said.

"The officers just went online and entered a number of different chat rooms, including Yahoo and MySpace" he said. "It wasn't long before they were approached by all kinds of guys."

Using screen names like "Kennettstoohot4you," the investigators concocted chat room cover stories that described lonely young teens who eventually, electronically -- and scurrilously -- were contacted by the suspects, Tate said.

Some of the alleged sexual predators taken in by the scheme went so far as to contact an adult confidential informant who participated in the operation, appeared very young and posed as the underage bait for the officers during the sting.

"These guys knew exactly what they were looking for and thought they had set up a date for sex with a child," a task force agent said. "The suspects and the informant spoke on a cell phone, set up the day and time of the rendezvous, and we were on hand to bust the suspects after they showed up at the door.

"The informant opened the front door, invited the suspects in the house, and then we made the arrests," the agent continued. "At no time was the informant in danger. Out of all the online suspects, only two who contacted the informant by phone and made plans to meet her at the home didn't show. All of those who did had condoms. Most had alcohol. One had a box of Viagra."

One alleged sexual predator, who agents said arrived at the sting with a pocket full of condoms and a 12 pack of beer, told them he came to advise his date about Internet predators, and the dangers associated with dating online.

Another suspect is a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant from Slippery Rock, Penn., assigned to Fort Leonard Wood, who agents said came to meet his intended victim in a vehicle equipped with U.S. government license plates.

A military uniform hung inside the car, agents said.

Two of the suspects are registered sex offenders, agents said.

Greenwell said Friday that he's proud of the proactive stance, yet surprised at the number of men arrested, and the lengths to which they'd go in attempts to meet minors for sex.

A Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent assigned to the Cape Girardeau office and who visited the site said those suspects who crossed state lines for the reason of having sex with a minor violated federal law. They'll face federal prosecution, the agent said.

Dunklin County Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Sokoloff filed second-degree attempted statutory rape, a D-felony that is punishable by up to four years in state prison, against:

* Ryan D. Dubyak, 25, of Slippery Rock, Penn.

* Tommy L. Woods, 58, of Caruthersville. Woods was issued a summons to appear April 21 in Dunklin County Circuit Court, Division II, police said.

* Christopher L. Holsten, 23, of Kennett.

* Clarence B. Smith, 29, of Trumann, Ark., who agents said is a registered sex offender.

* Thomas W. Lemons, 44, of Dyersburg, Tenn.

Assistant Prosecutor John C. Spielman filed the same charge against:

* Brian A. Carden, 22, of East Prairie.

* Chester L. Hankins, 20, of East Prairie.

* Evan J. McManaman, 25, of Jackson.

* Jason J. Modde, 31, of Jonesboro, Ark.

* Christopher N. Landers, 22, of Paragould, Ark.

* Joseph W. Hayes, 26, of Sikeston.

* Floyd J. Stephens, 25, of Kennett.

* Douglas M. Shikuutizi, 27, of St. Louis.

Spielman filed a second-degree attempted sodomy charge against Kenneth L. Breedlove, 38, of Kennett. Breedlove allegedly thought he communicated with a young boy, and is a registered sex offender, police said.

In addition, Spielman said Friday that a second felony charge, enticement of a child, will be levied against Holsten, Hayes, McManaman, Shikuutizi, Smith and Stephens.

The C-felony is punishable by up to seven years in prison, Spielman said.

Pemiscot County Prosecuting attorney Mike Hazel filed a second-degree attempted statutory rape charge against Mark J. McDinnis, 27, of Bragg City, a BDTF agent said Friday.

Task force agents said the investigation continues.

Greenwell said a similar operation is slated for Pemiscot County in the near future.

The DDD appreciates the assistance of Dunklin County Sheriff Bob Holder and his staff; the Dunklin County Prosecuting Attorney's Office; Pemiscot County Sheriff's Department; Bootheel Drug Task Force; Kennett Police Department; and the FBI for their parts in making this article possible.