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The News Room [News Release] Sheriff Contact: John Roach: 313-213-5162 Deputies arrest New Jersey man who flew 600 miles to meet underage girl for sex
Travis Delles of Brooklawn, New Jersey flew into Detroit late Monday morning and took a cab to a hotel in Macomb County, where he was taken into custody. Investigators say Delles had arranged to meet and have sex with the girl he had been graphically chatting and emailing with since she was 13 years old. Instead, Delles was met by the person he actually had communicated with on 113 separate occasions over a 20-month period - Cpl. William Liczbinski from Evans’ Internet Crime Unit. Evans said even he was surprised at how long this investigation lasted before an arrest occurred. “Some of our suspects set up meetings after only an hour of chatting and other cases take longer to develop. At 20 months, I think this is the longest single Internet investigation we’ve had,” Evans said. “Cpl. Lizbinski showed a remarkable amount of patience and skill in bringing this case to an arrest.” Evans said that Delles, who claimed to be only 25 years old in his online conversations, chatted both from his home in New Jersey and from Korea, where he had worked on and off for the past 18 months teaching English to children. Delles had returned to the United States in late September and began making plans to meet with the girl to celebrate her 15 th birthday. When he arrived at the hotel, Delles had a $150 negligee he had purchased from Victoria’s Secret in Philadelphia as a birthday gift for the young girl and a package of condoms. Philadelphia is directly across the Delaware River from Brooklawn, New Jersey. “It’s clear from his chats and these items what Mr. Delles’ intentions were,” Evans said. “This should serve as a reminder to parents just how far some men will go to take advantage of young girls. I urge parents to talk to their kids and closely monitor their computer activity.” Evans said his investigators are working with New Jersey officials to obtain Delles’ personal computer to verify his chats and to look for evidence of any other illegal activity. “The New Jersey State Police have been very cooperative and have indicated that they plan to seek charges against Mr. Delles, as well,” Evans said. Eerie similarities Delles’ case is oddly reminiscent to that of John Mark Karr, who had been working as a teacher in Thailand when he drew worldwide attention for claiming he was present at the murder of JonBenet Ramsey in Colorado 10 years ago. Prosecutors have filed no charges against Karr for lack of evidence to substantiate his claims. “Mr. Delles’ actions certainly raise questions about his activity while he was in Korea and what level of personal contact he had with any of the children he was teaching,” Evans said. Delles was arraigned today on 16 counts of Illegal Use of the Internet and one count of Child Sexually Abusive Behavior. He is being held at the Wayne County Jail on $200,000 cash bond. |
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Warren
C. Evans
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Wayne County Sheriff Internet deputies have arrested a 30-year old New Jersey man who hopped a plane to Detroit planning to meet the 15-year-old girl he had been seducing online for nearly two years, Sheriff Warren Evans announced today. 