Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 22, 2006 14:53:47 GMT -5
04/22/2006 - Macomb County sheriff's deputies this week made their first-ever arrest stemming from a live, digitally rendered sex act transmitted over the Internet.
Members of the Macomb Area Computer Enforcement squad, who normally correspond with would-be sexual predators through e-mails and online chat rooms, allege they received a digital video recorded by a Web cam featuring Dennis Ray Frick Jr., 31, exposing and fondling himself.
Officials believe Frick sent the video file made on a Web cam attached to his computer, then sent it from his home in Grand Traverse County to an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old girl in Macomb.
Deputies made arrangements to arrest and transport Frick to Macomb County, where he appeared Friday at 41B District Court on a total of seven felony charges. Bond was set at $50,000 cash/surety and he awaits a preliminary exam.
"The sickest part of that is, this is a person who thinks he is talking to a 14-year-old child while he's doing this," explained Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel. The image came over the Internet as Frick and an undercover officer had allegedly discussed meeting somewhere to have sex.
Hackel and some of his deputies indicated Friday the Frick arrest is the first case MACE has made against a man who also included an obscene video transmission in his online correspondence -- although Web cam images are by no means rare. During a Friday news conference while Hackel was relaying the case details, Sgt. Tina Old of the MACE unit was corresponding nearby on a wireless laptop with a man who also sent a video that appeared to depict a man masturbating.
"One of the first things we get out there in these (online discussions) is age, sex, location," Old explained of her job duties. "(And) we have to focus our own effort on the ones where it seems reasonable that they might drive to this area."
Sheriff's officials have long contended that sexual predators seeking underage children online are so prevalent that officers could spend time tracking and arresting them around the clock, though limited resources prevent that. Usually a deputy posing as a minor in various chat rooms can attract the attention and propositions of adults within a matter of minutes, officials contend.
But often, Old explained, would-be predators are corresponding from other jurisdictions where the laws are different; the statutory age of consent in Michigan is 16 but if someone is writing from an area where the legal age is lower, the deputies must first determine whether the suspect will come to Michigan, where his intentions are illegal.
In a similar bust this week, 22-year-old Shahabuddin Mohmad Panchbhaya of Pontiac also appeared for arraignment Friday in Clinton Township on felony charges stemming from an online correspondence. Police indicated an undercover deputy also received some proposition or invitation to meet with him for a sexual tryst this week -- Panchbhaya even made a second attempt to rendezvous with his intended victim, deputies allege.
"The officers involved in that case couldn't meet with him (Panchbhaya) the first time because they'd gone to arrest and pick up this other guy (Frick) at the time," Hackel said. "But when they got back and got online again, sure enough he was there and ready to meet the very next day."
Frick faces three counts of child sexually abusive activity, two counts of using a computer communicating with another in furtherance of a crime and two counts of accosting a child for immoral purposes.
Panchbhaya faces two counts of child sexually abusive commercial activity, two of the computer charges and one count of accosting a child. Both men could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted as charged.
Members of the Macomb Area Computer Enforcement squad, who normally correspond with would-be sexual predators through e-mails and online chat rooms, allege they received a digital video recorded by a Web cam featuring Dennis Ray Frick Jr., 31, exposing and fondling himself.
Officials believe Frick sent the video file made on a Web cam attached to his computer, then sent it from his home in Grand Traverse County to an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old girl in Macomb.
Deputies made arrangements to arrest and transport Frick to Macomb County, where he appeared Friday at 41B District Court on a total of seven felony charges. Bond was set at $50,000 cash/surety and he awaits a preliminary exam.
"The sickest part of that is, this is a person who thinks he is talking to a 14-year-old child while he's doing this," explained Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel. The image came over the Internet as Frick and an undercover officer had allegedly discussed meeting somewhere to have sex.
Hackel and some of his deputies indicated Friday the Frick arrest is the first case MACE has made against a man who also included an obscene video transmission in his online correspondence -- although Web cam images are by no means rare. During a Friday news conference while Hackel was relaying the case details, Sgt. Tina Old of the MACE unit was corresponding nearby on a wireless laptop with a man who also sent a video that appeared to depict a man masturbating.
"One of the first things we get out there in these (online discussions) is age, sex, location," Old explained of her job duties. "(And) we have to focus our own effort on the ones where it seems reasonable that they might drive to this area."
Sheriff's officials have long contended that sexual predators seeking underage children online are so prevalent that officers could spend time tracking and arresting them around the clock, though limited resources prevent that. Usually a deputy posing as a minor in various chat rooms can attract the attention and propositions of adults within a matter of minutes, officials contend.
But often, Old explained, would-be predators are corresponding from other jurisdictions where the laws are different; the statutory age of consent in Michigan is 16 but if someone is writing from an area where the legal age is lower, the deputies must first determine whether the suspect will come to Michigan, where his intentions are illegal.
In a similar bust this week, 22-year-old Shahabuddin Mohmad Panchbhaya of Pontiac also appeared for arraignment Friday in Clinton Township on felony charges stemming from an online correspondence. Police indicated an undercover deputy also received some proposition or invitation to meet with him for a sexual tryst this week -- Panchbhaya even made a second attempt to rendezvous with his intended victim, deputies allege.
"The officers involved in that case couldn't meet with him (Panchbhaya) the first time because they'd gone to arrest and pick up this other guy (Frick) at the time," Hackel said. "But when they got back and got online again, sure enough he was there and ready to meet the very next day."
Frick faces three counts of child sexually abusive activity, two counts of using a computer communicating with another in furtherance of a crime and two counts of accosting a child for immoral purposes.
Panchbhaya faces two counts of child sexually abusive commercial activity, two of the computer charges and one count of accosting a child. Both men could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted as charged.