January 8,  2010

            Lansing -  Attorney General Mike Cox today announced the results of an undercover Internet child predator sting that led to the arrest of a Grand Rapids resident. 

            Scott Alan Owen, 28, is accused of using the Internet to solicit a minor for sex after making advances in online chats towards who he thought was a 14-year-old girl.  He was actually chatting with investigators from the Attorney General's office and the volunteer organization Perverted Justice.

            "The Internet can be a dangerous place, making it critically important parents know what their children are doing online," said Cox.

            Owen, who reports he is employed by a local manufacturing company and identified himself as a member of the National Guard, was arraigned yesterday in 63-2 District Court before Judge Sara J. Smolenski on one count of using the Internet to accost a child for immoral purposes, a 10-year felony and one count of using a computer to disseminate sexually explicit matter to a minor, a four-year felony .  Bond was set at $5,000, and Owen is scheduled to be in court for a Preliminary Examination on January 20, 2010.

            Using the screen name " recon101_2000 ," the defendant engaged in sexually explicit chats and solicited undercover agents posing as a 14-year-old girl.  Working together, the Attorney General's office and Perverted Justice identified the defendant and arrested him in his Grand Rapids home. 

            If parents believe their child had contact with Owen, they are asked to contact the Attorney General's office at (313) 456-0180.  Parents and schools may also contact the Attorney General's office for information on our award-winning educational program, the Michigan Cyber Safety Initiative (Michigan CSI), which has been taught to more than 400,000 Michigan children.

            To date, the Attorney General and his Child and Public Protection Unit have arrested 253 Internet sex predators.  An August 2009 sting in Livingston County yielded nine arrests, while 21 predators were arrested during an October 2008 sting in Grand Rapids.

For more information on how to protect your child from Internet predators, visit www.Michigan.gov/csi.

A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. 

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