Greencastle Police were called to Walmart on Sunday evening after being notified that Indianapolis Predator Catchers was working a sting operation.
For the second time in recent months, an online child predator tracking group has assisted local authorities with the arrest of an individual soliciting sex with someone under age.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Christopher Steve Brown, 34, Brazil, was arrested recently in Greencastle after attempting to meet a 14 year old decoy at Walmart. The decoy was a representative of the Indianapolis Predator Catchers group, who lured Brown to Walmart.
Greencastle Police were called to Walmart on Sunday evening after being notified that Indianapolis Predator Catchers was "working a sting operation and in the process of setting up a meet with a male named Chris." Sgt. Zach Rhine responded and parked his vehicle out of sight and began to watch the livestream, where he observed Brown ask the victim to come outside to his vehicle. Once outside, police detained Brown, who initially told officers he was an Uber driver and that his cell phone had been hacked.
Once Brown left the scene, police spoke with representatives of Indianapolis Predator Catchers and were shown "an extensive text message history where the decoy and Mr. Brown were messaging." In the messages, the decoy stated they were 14 years old, and the messages continued with Brown describing various sexual acts he wanted to perform with the decoy.
"The messages continued to paint a picture of Mr. Brown's intentions...," the report stated.
Brown initially told investigators that he had finished a Door Dash delivery from Wendy's and stopped at Walmart to purchase laundry soap and fabric softner. When asked about the photos and text messages on his phone, Brown said he had no idea about the conversations and was being "100 percent honest." Moments later, he told investigators he wanted to have a "heart to heart talk" with the decoy about trying to get with older men, to try and tell her that it was dangerous and something she should not be doing, the document states.
"He said he planned on calling the police once the female was in his vehicle, that he had no intention of doing anything sexual with her, that he doesn't hurt children," the report said.
Brown is facing a Level 4 felony of child solicitation to engage in sexual intercourse or other sexual conduct. He is being held in the Putnam County Jail on a $25,000 cash bond and could face up to 12 years in jail, along with a $10,000 fine.
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