Sgt. Ron Robinson said the girl ran away in March and was located in Fairfield. Police discovered that she had been communicating online with numerous adult males and had had sex with more than a dozen men. With her permission, Robinson continued using her social media profiles to communicate with men interested in sex.
Derron Bradley, 22, of Moraine, and Corey Braden, 23, of Miamisburg, were two of the men who talked with “girl” online and sent her photos of their genitals, Robinson said.
They were arrested when they traveled to an arranged meeting expecting to have sex with the teen.
“They came to Goshen to meet me,” Robinson said. “They thought they were going to have sex with her.”
Bradley and Braden are each charged with one count of importuning and two counts of disseminating matter harmful to a juvenile. Neither is being detained in jail.
Robinson said there likely are more charges to come. He said the total number of arrests will be “well over 20.”
Also charged with importuning are three men from West Chester: James Andrew Mason, Daniel W. Cochran and and Puneet Singh Sandhar. Mason is additionally charged with engaging in unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.
Already, Clermont County Prosecutor Don White told the Cincinnati Enquirer that the number of arrests are the most in a case of this nature that he has seen in his 24 years in office.
The 15 charged so far range in age from 18 to 35. Most are from Ohio but a few come from Kentucky, South Carolina and New Jersey. Five are charged with engaging in unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. Robinson said those men had sex with the girl before police located her and were arrested when they made contact and attempted to meet the child again.
Robinson said several additional cases have been forwarded to the Butler County Prosecutor's Office because the alleged offenses occurred in the Fairfield area.
In a press release this week, Goshen police stressed that parents need to closely monitor their children’s social media use, including the use of smart phones. The juvenile in this case was using her Internet-equipped iPod to access her accounts and communicate with men.
“She did not hide the fact that she was only 14 years old and this did not deter the men who continued to want to meet her for sex,” Capt. Bob Rose said.
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