The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and Lincoln City Police Department continue to ramp up their child luring stings of local men during online decoy operations this month.
Seiji M. Button, 28, of Newport is being held in the Lincoln County jail on $200,000 bail after his arrest Dec. 11 on charges of luring a minor and online sex corruption of a child. In a probable cause affidavit, Sgt. Hayden Tolzman said Button began communicating with a police decoy account on Facebook that poses as a 15-year-old girl in November and began asking about meeting for sex.
Joseph T. Cunningham, 40, of Depoe Bay is in jail with bail of $500,000 after his arrest by sheriff’s Deputy Garret Brawdy on Dec. 19 on charges of luring a minor and online sexual corruption of a child. In a probable cause affidavit, Brawdy said Cunningham began communicating Dec. 17 with a sheriff’s decoy account belonging to a 15-year-old girl. Cunningham, a registered sex offender, was arrested two days later after agreeing to meet the decoy at Agate Beach State Park.
The Lincoln City Police Department has been conducting child luring stings for several years and arresting several men each time they conduct them. The sheriff’s office recently added a similar operation and has arrested three men since November.
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