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Monroe, Mason men among 11 arrested in Ky. Internet sex sting

Nine other men also arrested for allegedly trying to meet 13-year-old for sex.

Staff Writer

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

A University of Cincinnati Criminal Justice department director, an IBM employee and a retired Army sergeant are among the 11 men swept up in an Internet sex sting in Northern Kentucky over the weekend, investigators said.

Paul Westwood, 45, of Monroe, who works at a distribution warehouse, was arrested along with 10 others during an undercover operation in cooperation with law enforcement agencies and Perverted Justice, an Internet sex crime-fighting group, for allegedly trying to meet a 13-year-old for sex.

"Last Thursday through Sunday, these men, ages 24 to 59, drove from cities across Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio to a home in Highland Heights, Ky., expecting to meet up with a 13-year-old child they had been chatting with online," said Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo in a news release.

Each of the men chatted online with who they believed was a minor; some learned the youth's age and saw pictures on social networking sites, including myspace.com, said Michelle Snodgrass, chief assistant commonwealth attorney.

In two cases, the men were coming to meet a boy and the others were coming to meet girls, Snodgrass said.

The men actually were meeting an adult Perverted Justice employee posing as a minor and law enforcement officers, including Campbell County Police, Highland Heights Police and the Kentucky Bureau of Investigation, who were all involved in the sting, Stumbo said.

Video of one incident shows a man, whose face is blocked, enter a home and follow who he believes is a minor through an eat-in kitchen in the home.

"I have a surprise for you, OK," the unseen girl says. "Oh, um, this is going to sound really stupid, but I'm a little bit nervous."

As he continues to follow her, a group of police officers and a camera man surround him, take him to the ground and secure his hands behind him, then lead him from the home.

In the past, those convicted of similar crimes have brought condoms, drugs and alcohol and pornographic videos to a planned meeting. Some of the men also brought similar items, of which Snodgrass did not elaborate.

Also arrested in the sting was 59-year-old University of Cincinnati Criminal Justice Department E-learning Director James C. Rauch.

University spokesman Greg Hand said Rauch was hired in 2001 and that he previously served as a music educator. On his Web site, Rauch claims to have ties to Mason City Schools high school and junior high school bands, but school officials said they have no record of his employment.

Rauch has been licensed since 1969, according to the Ohio Department of Education's Web site.

The other men arrested are: Donny Emmert, 30, of Groveport, Ohio; Nick Kelly, 27, of Sandy Hook, Ky.; Timothy Kyne, 42, of Indianapolis; Charles "Dave" McCallister, 41, of Manchester-Hyden, Ky.; Michael Meyer, 24, of Covington; Anthony Orangias, 39, of Colver, Ind.; David Quist, 46, of Fort Thomas, Ky.; Richard Springmeier, 48, of Cincinnati; and Dennis Wissel, 45, of Reading, Ohio.

The 11 suspects appeared Monday in Campbell District Court in Newport, where a judge set bond at $100,000 each on charges of attempted unlawful transaction with a minor, a first-degree felony, and are housed at the Campbell County Detention Center. If convicted, the men face 10 to 20 years in prison, Stumbo said.

The men are set to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

The Kentucky Post contributed to this report.

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