The Canadian County Sheriff's Office is active in conducting online stings designed to catch adults attempting to meet minors for sex. In these stings, an undercover deputy will create a fake online profile purporting to be a young teenager, and will then engage in conversations with adults. If the conversation becomes sexual, or if the adult attempts to meet the decoy for sex, deputies make an arrest.
Last week, another person fell prey to their online stings.
In this case, a sheriff's deputy posed online as a 14-year-old girl from Mustang, Oklahoma. Investigators say a 37-year-old man initiated contact with the decoy around 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, and the conversation quickly became sexual. The man allegedly told the decoy that he knew that having sex with her would be illegal, but apparently, he did not let that stop him from pursuing a physical encounter. The pair arranged a meeting by 4:15 p.m. the same day.
Deputies hurried to the meeting place, and when they tried to approach the suspect, he attempted to flee in his vehicle. Deputies boxed him in so that he could not evade arrest.
Canadian County sheriff's deputies arrested Adam McMillen of Oklahoma City. He was booked into the Canadian County Jail on complaints of two counts of soliciting sexual conduct or communication with a minor by use of technology. Yesterday, he was formally charged with one count of lewd or indecent proposals to a child under 16.
Lewd or Indecent Proposals or Acts to a Child Under 16 (21 O.S. § 1123) prohibits sexual contact or communication by an adult aged 18 or older with a minor under the age of 16. While the law specifically prohibits numerous acts, the defendant in this case is charged under § 1123(A)(1):
"It is a felony for any person to knowingly and intentionally [m]ake any oral, written or electronically or computer-generated lewd or indecent proposal to any child under sixteen (16) years of age, or other individual the person believes to be a child under sixteen (16) years of age, for the child to have unlawful sexual relations or sexual intercourse with any person."
By stating that it is a felony to have a sexually explicit conversation or to attempt to arrange a sexual liaison with a person believed to be a minor under 16, Oklahoma law closes a loophole that would allow a defendant to argue that he or she could not possibly be guilty of indecent proposals to a minor when there was no actual minor involved--only another adult posing as a minor.
Lewd or Indecent Proposals or Acts to a Child Under 16 is a felony sex offense. As a Level 3 offense, conviction mandates lifetime sex offender registration. The associated prison term is 3 to 20 years in prison if the child involved is aged 12 to 15. If the child is under the age of 12, conviction is punishable by 25 years to life in prison.
