2 men arrested in West Virginia internet predator operation
GRANVILLE, W.Va. — Police in a West Virginia town say that one month after learning how to conduct undercover operations against internet predators, they have arrested two men.
The Dominion Post reports 48-year-old James Lee Metz of Fairmont and 23-year-old Nolan Thomas Mowad of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, were charged Saturday with solicitation of a minor via a computer. It’s unclear whether they have attorneys.
Granville Police Chief Craig Corkrean says two officers received undercover operation training last month from the Internet Crimes Against Children task force.
Each officer chatted online with Mowad and Metz, who believed the officers were teen-age girls. Both chats were sexual.
Officers arranged to meet the men. When they arrived in Granville, they were arrested.
Corkrean calls it the first success from the training and says similar operations will continue.
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