The News Room [News Release]
Sheriff Contact: John Roach: 313-213-5162
Release Date: Monday, August 1, 2005
Sheriff's deputies arrest 68-year old Canton man seeking sex with 14-year-old
Wayne County Sheriff's Deputies have arrested a 68-year-old Canton man who had arranged over the Internet to have sex with who he thought was an underage girl young enough to be his granddaughter, Sheriff Warren Evans said today.
On July 27th, deputies of the Internet Crime Unit apprehended Harley Dale Ellenberger who had chatted online with them for only one day before requesting a meeting. He is the oldest person ever arrested by sheriff's deputies for arranging sex with a minor over the Internet.
"This case reinforces what we always have said about pedophilia crossing all race, age, educational and economic lines," Evans said. "This case is particularly troubling because of the age of the suspect."
According to investigators, Ellenberger planned to meet a 14-year-old girl, take her to a nearby hotel and have sex with her. He then planned to return the girl to their meeting location on the county's east side, let her go home and then pick her up again the next day for more sex. When he was arrested, Ellenberger had a map to the meeting location inside his gold Mercury Mountaineer.
Ellenberer, who is married and the father of adult children, has been charged with Illegal Use of the Internet and Child Sexually Abusive Behavior, both 20-year felonies. He is being held at the Wayne County jail on $75,000 cash bond.
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Sheriff's News...
Sheriff of Wayne County
1231 St. Antoine
Detroit, MI 48226
Ph: (313) 224-2222
Fx: (313) 224-2367