JASPER — The arrest of a 44-year-old Michigan man for felony child solicitation is the latest success in investigations in which Jasper police, and even volunteer decoys working with them, go into online computer chat rooms.
Michael Paul Van Houten of Grand Rapids was charged with a Level 5 felony count of child solicitation in late August after a five-month investigation by the Jasper Police Department.
Police allege he tried to solicit sex acts from an individual he thought to be a 14-year-old Jasper Middle School student. In reality, according to Jasper detective Sgt. Rick Chambers, Van Houten was actually having online chats with either a volunteer decoy or a law enforcement officer acting as a decoy.
During those chats, police said, Van Houten solicited the individual he thought was a teen girl for various sex acts and even made plans to meet the girl on two occasions, although those plans were never acted upon.
Jasper police enacted the help of the Grand Rapids Police Department to arrest Van Houten while he was at his place of business in Grand Rapids. He was transported to Dubois County but is currently out on bail until his next court appearance Nov. 5.
If Van Houten would have actually traveled to meet his intended victim, Chambers said, he could have been charged with a more serious Level 3 or Level 4 felony. But, the detective said, a decision was made to arrest Van Houten in the interest of protecting any other intended victims with whom he may have been communicating.
Chambers says Jasper police have a working relationship with a volunteer organization — he declined to publicly share names — that helps police build cases against online pedophiles.
Several years ago, when Chambers, a 28-year veteran on Jasper’s police department, moved into the detective slot, he realized he was beginning to investigate a growing number of child sex crimes.
“I thought if we can get some of these guys before they actually get to a child or use other avenues to approach these guys, then all the better,” Chambers said.
He made contact with the online volunteer group and now gives intelligence briefings to decoys who work with Chambers to determine information about the age, sex and residence of make-believe victims in Jasper. The trained decoy volunteer will occasionally contact the detective to ask about local information to pass along.
The July arrest of Anthony J. Temple, 30, of 516 E. 15th St., who was also charged with a Level 5 felony count of child solicitation, was another arrest in the partnership with the online volunteer group. Temple has a jury trial scheduled for Dec. 1.
Chambers said, because Temple and his intended victim were both in Dubois County, there were no jurisdictional issues. But when a suspect is living outside of the area, the Jasper detective takes over the online conversation from the volunteer decoy to ensure certain criteria needed for a local criminal case have been met.
“The ultimate goal is to get the predator to stop doing what they are doing,” Chambers said. “If that means they are scared to death to talk to anybody who lives in Jasper, or that predator is in Jasper and it opens their eyes so that person they are having a conversation with online might not be who they think it is, then that’s great.”
Chambers declined to share additional information about Jasper police and online chat rooms. There are ongoing investigations he does not want to jeopardize, he said.
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