Law enforcement authorities in Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap counties are continuing to investigate potential sexual predators who unwittingly took part in an internet “Net Nanny” sting that led to the arrest of 10 men last week, one of whom subsequently died by apparent suicide.
Clallam County Chief Criminal Deputy Brian King said Friday, March 30, that detectives are following up on internet contacts that 40-65 more people had with the undercover officers during a four-day operation out of a house that the State Patrol rented in the Port Hadlock area.
In addition to the State Patrol and the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, other agencies involved include the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the Port Angeles and Sequim police departments.
The 10 men were arrested at the house or while on their way to the house to engage in what they expected would be sex with children, authorities said.
“Those are the ones who decided to say, “hey, we are coming and having sex with these kids,” King said.
“A lot of people out there were showing a whole lot of interest or didn’t quite take that step to show up.
“But it was progressing in that direction. It’s fair to say that more arrests are going to occur as a result of this operation.”
King said another Clallam County Sheriff’s detective opened another Net Nanny investigation on Thursday, March 29.
“If there was dialogue regarding sex with minor children, that person’s case number was taken out by a detective,” King said. “We have another potential victim of a crime.”
Seven children between 8-13 years old were identified as potential victims of sex abuse crimes as a result of the arrests, authorities said.
“As we conduct interviews with these bad guys and learn more about them and who they lived with over the years, there’s all this information that pops up,” King said.
“It would be very rare, very naive on our part that they saw an ad out there and responded to it for the first time in their whole life.”
Eight of the men accused of child sex crimes have pleaded not guilty in Jefferson County Superior Court to charges in connection with the operation.
Defendants appeared before Superior Court Judge Keith Harper for their arraignments on Friday, March 30.
Another man who was arrested in the sting — Thomas E. Gale, 53, of Port Townsend — was found dead at his home Friday morning in an apparent suicide, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. An investigation is ongoing.
Agents scoured classified advertising websites such as Backpage and Craigslist and other social media looking for predators.
“All we are simply doing is chatting with people who are seeking certain things, whether we are responding to someone else’s ad that’s out there or someone is responding to an ad we put out there,” King said.
Fake ads could not be too explicit or they would lead to entrapment, so agents engaged in extensive conversations to establish rapport with respondents.
Craigslist recently shut down its online personal ads, citing a recently approved federal law that makes websites subject to criminal and civil liability when their users unlawfully use online personals. The Net Nanny program that the State Patrol began in 2015 has resulted in 170 arrests and the rescue of 24 child victims, the agency said.
Paul Gottlieb is a Senior Staff Writer with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
