MARSHALL, MI – Three men were arrested Thursday during an underage sex sting near Battle Creek.
The men arrested Thursday, Jan. 19, in the city of Marshall were a 27-year-old Battle Creek resident, a 49-year-old Portage resident and a 33-year-old Ghanaian national residing in Jackson, according to the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office.
Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office officials say the men had been chatting online with who they thought were children aged 14 but were actually police officers. On Thursday, the men were arrested as they arrived at a location in Marshall where they allegedly thought they would be meeting up the presumed underage person they were speaking with to have sex.
“There are a few things that are the foundation to our community’s success and its future. Our children are one,” said Calhoun County Sheriff Steve Hinkley. “The internet has opened opportunities to access our children that no one had ever imagined. My office will continue to shine a light of hope into the dark world of human trafficking and expose the pain and hurt that is has on so many families.”
Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office officials say the purpose of the Thursday operation was to locate, identify and arrest people utilizing social media platforms for the purpose of meeting up with children for a sexual encounter.
The operation was conducted by the human trafficking intervention team at the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office. That team is called the Rescuing Humanity Intervention Neighborhood Operations (RHINO) Team.
The sheriff’s office was aided in the operation by Marshall police and Albion public safety officers.
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