PORT CLINTON – The Ottawa County Grand Jury has issued indictments for eight men arrested in a multi-agency undercover sting called Operation Safe Harbor, which targeted online child predators.
The grand jury met July 2.
Three of the men were indicted by the grand jury on additional charges because the ongoing investigations turn up new information. One of the men, Larry Wymer, 35, of Whitehouse, is a Tier II registered sex offender previously convicted in 2013 of gross sexual imposition involving a minor in Lucas County.
The sting took place from June 19 to June 22; Ottawa County Prosecutor James VanEerten said it involved coordination between 17 agencies at the local, state and federal levels, but Operation Safe Harbor was primarily handled by the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children, in partnership with the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office and the Ottawa County Prosecutor’s Office with the Major Crimes Unit.
Officers posed as children between the ages of 12 and 15 on various online platforms that are frequented by children, VanEerten said. Those who were arrested had initiated contact, expressed an intent to engage in sexual activity and traveled to pre-arranged locations believing they were meeting a minor.
Some of them also offered monetary compensation in exchange for sexual contact.
“We’re constantly trying to find new ways to get to parents and to get to kids, that we don’t give guns to kids and let them play with them, just like we don’t give our kids electronic devices without supervision and let them play with them,” VanEerten said. “They are just as dangerous in another way. There are bad people who are dedicated to finding ways to harm children online.”
Those arrested and indicted with alleged crimes against children were:
“Internet identifiers are names or usernames associated with any account or email address that you use online,” VanEerten said. “It’s so that we know how to track those people. It’s the same thing as online chat applications. If you have an account, you have to provide us with your usernames.”
Wymer’s combined cash bond is $475,000.
An indictment is a formal accusation that an individual committed a crime. Other individuals are also being investigated, but have not yet been charged.
VanEerten explained some of the charges, which were felonies at the F3, F4 or F5 level.
Possession of criminal tools could be almost anything used while committing the other offenses, which typically included a mobile phone or computer.
Each man has been assigned a cash bond for each charge.
All eight men were still incarcerated in the Ottawa County Detention Facility as of July 3, with initial appearances and arraignments likely by July 7.
Investigations of those men continue.
rlapointe@gannett.com
419-332-2674
This article originally appeared on Port Clinton News Herald: 8 alleged child predators caught in undercover sting operation
Reporting by Roger LaPointe, Port Clinton News Herald / Port Clinton News Herald
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