Operation marks culmination of six-month long investigation
By Austen Smith, Editor
PUBLISHED: March 13, 2008
Two residents from the Belleville area and one from Ypsilanti were among 27 suspects arrested over the weekend in a far-reaching Internet sex predator sting operation.
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Belleville resident Anthony Donajkowski, 35, Van Buren Township resident Keith Smallman, 23, and Ypsilanti resident Russell Schneider, 34, were invited to an undisclosed home in Van Buren Township after talking with, whom they thought, was either a 13-year-old girl or boy in an Internet chat room. The undercover officers involved in the sting scheduled different times for the suspects, all males between 19 to 57, to show up at the home.
The remaining suspects, with some exceptions, came from nearby areas such as Trenton, Brownstown, Livonia, Dearborn, Monroe, Ann Arbor and Canton. Others traveled from as far as Waterford and Traverse City, and one suspect drove in from New Jersey. All of the suspects were arraigned and charged at 34th District Court over the weekend and are being held on a $50,000 cash bond.
The arrests were the result of a collaborative Internet sex predator sting that had been coming together since October last year. Van Buren Township police along with deputies from the Wayne County Sheriff's Office and officials from the attorney general's office worked with a non-profit company that specializes in busting Internet sex predators, Perverted Justice. It is the same company featured on NBC's TV show "Dateline: To Catch A Predator."
Capt. Greg Laurain, with Van Buren Township Police, commended all of the parties involved.
"Everybody did an outstanding job on this," he said. "It was a one of kind collaborative investigation in Michigan."
Laurain said the fact that three of the suspects live in the immediate area shows that the local community does have its own problems and parents should be aware.
"But I think with this we sent a clear message that we are watching those who would put children in danger," Laurain said. "We used the dark side of the Internet to do that. I think the fact that these guys think they can still get away with this stuff is pretty amazing."
Van Buren Public Safety Director Gerald Champagne also praised the work done by local law enforcement and the companies involved. He said, in a press release, the proactive investigation was conducted to identify predators willing to travel into our area and to warn others that they will be arrested if they prey on our children.
In addition to the 27 who were arrested, there were a number of other individuals who made contact with the Perverted Justice undercover decoys and transmitted sexually explicit material and comments but who did not show up at the house. Under state law, it is illegal to communicate sexually explicit material to minors, and Laurain said there will be more arrests as they track down the individuals who made contact during the sting.
The suspects arrived at the home in a variety of ways. While most drove to the decoy house, there was one individual who rode a bicycle from Ypsilanti, another was dropped off by his sister and four of the suspects arrived in a taxicab.
Laurain said one of the suspects was stopped by Van Buren police before he arrived at the house because of a flat tire. During the traffic stop, the suspect told officers that he was "going to meet a friend." Laurain said the officers knew the individual was involved in the sting and let him go.
"By the time he got to the house, he was riding on the rim of the tire," Laurain said.
The suspects were monitored by surveillance provided by a company called Investigative Mechanics. As they entered the house, four to six police officers apprehended the suspect and there were no injuries or violence reported. There were two suspects who circled around the house in their cars but did not get out. Laurain said they were apprehended away from the scene by patrol cars.
"At that point, we already have them on the Internet chat material. The fact that these guys showed up to the house is just icing on the cake, they don't need to go into the house to be arrested," he said.
Laurain said most of the suspects denied they were there for sex. All of the suspects were searched and had their vehicles searched, if they arrived in one. Laurain said they found condoms on a number of the suspects and one had brought an overnight bag.
"We also did criminal and background checks on each of the suspects, so we knew if they had criminal backgrounds before they even arrived," Laurain said.
All of the surveillance from the operation and chat room transcripts will be used as evidence.
HOW TO KEEP YOUR KIDS SAFE
The Michigan Attorney General's Office has compiled this list of Web sites for information on how to protect your children from Internet predators:
Committed to the safety of children and teens both on and offline. The kids' section is particularly good for children through fourth grade and does not link to any outside source to ensure to safe and positive experience for children.
OnGuard Online provides practical tips from the federal government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against Internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information.
A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety
A publication of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) www.fbi.gov.
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