Police say fifteen people have been arrested in central and eastern Wisconsin, following a coordinated effort to crack down on child sex trafficking. The arrests were made as part of Operation Black Veil II, and involved Marathon, Shawano, and Outagamie county sheriff’s departments, and police from Wausau, Shawano, and Oshkosh between last Wednesday and Saturday.
Marathon County Sheriff Scott Parks says the operation targeted online predators who solicit children for sexually explicit conduct by using online advertising in places like Craigslist. “It’s not necessarily just Craigslist, actually, it’s just a number of different sites and various computer access that is conducted and the efforts are made to locate individuals who are preying on our children.”
Parks says this type of operation shows there are still many people who would take advantage of children. “It’s actually frustrating and sad at the same time. Frustrating about the fact that there are these persons out there. It’s the third time that the operation has been run, but yet we still see a number of people that are involved with these type of activities. Sad, because once again, it’s up to parents and law enforcement to protect our children with the onus on both of us.”
The Sheriff says this is another example of how important it is for parents to watch what their children are doing on the Internet to help keep them safe. “It’s up to parents to monitor what their children are involved in, their Internet access and the persons that they are basically conversing with online, because there are a lot of predators out there who would like to prey on these people.”
21-year-old Pravong Colin Thongdara was arrested by Wausau Police and charged with child enticement and use of a computer to facilitate a sex crime. 39-year-old Brian A. Uttecht was arrested by Wausau Police and charged with soliciting for an adult prostitute. 23-year-old Shayd C. Mitchell was arrested by Wausau Police and charged with child enticement and use of a computer to facilitate a sex crime.
Marathon County deputies arrested 28-year-old Robert L. Spreeman, who is charged with child enticement and using a computer to facilitate a sex crime.
Outagamie County deputies arrested 18-year-old Maynard M. Dakota and have referred him for charges of child enticement and using a computer to facilitate a sex crime.
34-year-old Richard E. Denty was arrested by Shawano city and county law enforcement. He’s been charged with using a computer to facilitate a sex crime. Oshkosh Police apprehended 42-year-old Michael A. Fischer. He’s charged with child enticement and using a computer to facilitate a sex crime.
Nine of the arrests were in Door County. 50-year-old Frederick Fischer, 28-year-old Albert D. Ruleford, 48-year-old Randal A. Bunkelman from Allouez, 34-year-old Victor V. Lakimenko from Bellevue, 38-year-old Aaron D. Dobberfuhl from Bellevue, 38-year-old Jason S. Gehrke of Bellevue, 36-year-old Bryan J. Bathke from Ashwaubenon, 30-year-old Daniel R. Roggow from Bellevue, and 38-year-old James E. McHugh from Ashwaubenon all face similar charges. Bunkelman and Dobberfuhl also have charges of exposing their genitals to a child.
WSAU