Arrested for stalking supposed 13-year old girl
St. John the Baptist Parish arrested a Des Allemands man, David Keith Ryan, 42, of 163 Maloney Rd. for soliciting a minor for sexual purposes. Instead of talking inappropriately to a 13-year old from LaPlace, Ryan was actually chatting with a Special Agent of Louisiana’s High Tech Crime Unit, and his arrest was part of sting operation crafted by Attorney General Charles Foti, Jr.
“Ryan allegedly engaged the individual in an online chat and requested that the juvenile create sexually explicit images of herself,” adding, “Ryan described in detail the images that he wanted from the juvenile and he requested that she put all of the images on compact disc for him to pickup in person,” according to the Attorney General’s Office.
For these illegal activities, he was charged computer aided solicitation of minor for sexual purposes and pornography involving juveniles.
If convicted on these counts, Ryan could receive from 2 up to 40 years.
After requesting the sexual images, “Ryan arranged a meeting with what he believed to be the thirteen-year-old female for the purpose of having sexual relations and to take possession of the child pornography. Ryan was arrested by agents from the Attorney General’s Office and detectives from the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office after he arrived at the designated rendezvous place in St. John Parish,” according to the Attorney General’s Office. The arrest coordinated jointly by St. John and state officials occurred on February 14.
Ryan did not have any prior arrests and is not currently registered as a sex offender in St. Charles Parish.
Asst. Public Information Officer for Charles Foti, Jennifer Gluck said this is not the first time that a state official has posed as youngster in order to snare sexual predators via the Internet, as three days prior to Ryan’s capture Gary Duplessis, an employee of the Hammond Fire Department, from Springfield, was charged with the same crimes.
In the Information Age, the High Tech Crimes Unit is part of a new wave of methods used by Louisiana to ensnare sex offenders, as Internet allows them a level anonymity to pose as anyone they want — much like the cyber stalkers use on children.
As of Monday, Maj. Mike Tread of St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office said that Ryan is still in jail and had not posted the $100,000 bond set by Judge Mary Hotard Becnel.
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