Eight of 20 sting suspects appear in court

<p>Eight of 20 men from across Georgia who are accused of attempting to have sexual contact with what they thought was a 13-year-old girl they met on the Internet appeared in court Wednesday in Harris County.</p><p>For each of the eight, Chief Magistrate Jennifer B. Webb tossed out charges of enticing a child for indecent purposes after public defender John Wilson argued that the charge wouldn't hold because there was no actual child involved.</p><p>The other charges, including criminal attempt to commit child molestation and obscene Internet contact, were upheld and bound over to a county grand jury. Two of the eight also face a charge of furnishing obscene material.</p><p>But as a result of the dismissed charge, many of the bonds dropped by $10,000, with one alleged repeat offender's bond amount reduced by $20,000.</p><p>The charges stem from a sting called "Operation Predator," orchestrated by local authorities with the help of the NBC production "To Catch a Predator." A total of 20 men, from metro Atlanta to Nashville in south Georgia, made online contact with decoys that led to scheduling a meeting at a Harris County home between July 21-27, when they were arrested.</p><p>Twelve of the 20 made bond before the preliminary hearing. Eight others waited their turn before the judge in black-and-white jail clothes, bound at the wrists and hands.</p><p>Sheriff's investigator Tony Knotts said some of the sexually explicit online conversations suspect had with decoys had references to activities the suspects desired, or clothes they wanted the "child" to wear.</p><p>Most of the men were arrested after they entered the Fortson-area home, spoke with either Dateline NBC's Chris Hansen or an officer and left.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc3ec)</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/8/119463