March 4,  2010

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

David Michael Thornberry, 21, 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.

"Predators are online every day, making it critically important that parents are aware of what their children are doing and who they are chatting with on the Internet," said Cox.

Thornberry, who reported that he is a student at the Kalamazoo Valley Community College police academy, was arraigned today in 51^st District Court before Judge Phyllis McMillen on six counts of Using the Internet to Accost a child for immoral purposes, a 10-year felony, and two counts of Using the Internet to Disseminate Sexually Explicit Materials, a four-year felony.  Bond was set at $40,000, and Thornberry is scheduled to be in court again for a pre-trial hearing on March 17^th.

Using the screen name "big_dave5188," the defendant engaged in sexually explicit chats and solicited undercover agents.  Thornberry is accused of engaging in the chats both from his home in Waterford and while on campus at Michigan State University, where he may have been a student.  Working together, the Attorney General's office and Perverted Justice identified the defendant.  Thornberry turned himself in at the court today. 

If parents believe their child had contact with Thornberry, 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 254 Internet sex predators. 

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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