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Five more men arraigned in Tri-City child sex sting

Tri-City Herald - 7/13/2017

July 13--All 26 men swept up in a five-day Tri-City operation to combat online child predators have now been charged, with five more appearing Wednesday in court.

William J. Barrett and Andrew L. Sanders both face Sept. 5 trials in Benton County Superior Court, while John M. Scheline, Darren J. Kerbyson and Gabriel Saenz have Oct. 2 dates.

Four of them are charged with attempted second-degree rape of a child and have been released from jail after posting $10,000 bond each.

Barrett is locked up on $25,000 bail because he has additional charges, including bringing methamphetamine and a glass smoking device to the meet-up.

They were arrested as part of a multi-agency effort, dubbed "Tri-Cities Net Nanny Operation," between July 5 and 9.

Undercover detectives answered postings on various websites and placed their own ads claiming to be kids as young as 11 or parents who were offering their children for sex. Some of the suspects showed up to the predetermined location with condoms and sex toys.

The first three men arrested when authorities were still setting up the operation had Tuesday court hearings. The remaining 18 men are scheduled to appear Thursday.

Scheline, 40, resigned from his job as executive director of Ignite Youth Mentoring in March, and was fired from a volunteer mentor role with the organization after the allegations surfaced. The Pasco father previously served as a pastor at Faith Assembly in Pasco and lead pastor of Bozeman Christian Center in Montana.

Investigators found an advertisement Scheline placed June 13 on Craigslist suggesting that a married dad was looking for a young boy, court documents said.

When a detective responded July 5 as a father offering up his 13-year-old son for sex acts, Scheline allegedly discussed in explicit detail what he would do with the boy.

Scheline eventually was given the address of an apartment. When "the (undercover) son" answered the door, Scheline turned and left and was taken into custody as he tried to get out of the complex, documents said.

Kerbyson, 50, is a laboratory fellow and an internationally recognized computer scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Prosecutors allege the West Richland man answered a "Young twink needs daddy" ad and, in further communication, asked the boy's age. He was arrested after entering the apartment where he intended to meet the 13-year-old.

Saenz, 41, of Kennewick, is accused of responding to an ad posted by a young boy in search of a "teacher."

While chatting with the fictitious boy, Saenz sent photos of a topless man's body and closeups of male genitalia, and talked about having sex with the kid, court documents said.

Sanders, 33, of Pasco, allegedly posted an ad that talked about meeting on Road 68 late at night. An undercover detective sent an email saying he was bored, but was probably too young at "almost 14," documents said.

Prosecutors say Sanders ignored the age issue, told the boy he was "pretty damn horny" and asked him to send a nude picture of himself.

The two emailed back and forth, with Sanders trying to arrange a meet-up and offering to perform certain sex acts, court documents said. The two then switched to text messages, and ultimately Sanders showed up at the apartment where investigators were waiting.

Barrett, 47, of Kennewick, is charged with attempted first-degree child rape, attempted second-degree child rape and attempted distribution of meth to a person under 18.

Court documents state he answered a fake mother's ad for "family fun," saying he had no experience but fantasized about it. Barrett then sent a photo of his face and another of a nude male body, and confirmed that he was interested in being with the woman's 11- and 13-year-old kids while she watched, documents said.

Barrett allegedly asked in one email if he should bring meth to "enhance everything," and later told the mom to provide "family porn."

Despite being told repeatedly that the mom would not have sex with him, Barrett claimed after his arrest that he was there for her and he would have called police if he'd seen kids when he arrived at the apartment, documents said.

All of the men have been told they can't access the internet -- whether it is through a computer, cellphone, tablet or other device -- both at home and work while their cases are pending. They also must not be around minors without the supervision of another adult who is aware of their charges.

Kerbyson was granted an exception by Judge Jackie Shea Brown, because he is the only caretaker for his two teen daughters since his wife died in the past year.

The final 18 defendants were charged Wednesday with:

? One count each of attempted second-degree rape of a child -- Jesus G. Contreras Salgado, 29; Jerome G. Williams, 24; Antonio C. Garcia, 21; John N. Schouviller, 31; Yuriy L. Gulchuk, 35; Gregory B. Taber, 65; Aaron D. Hagerty, 42; James C. Escobedo Jr., 20; Jairo Lopez, 20; James C. Doty, 34; Kyle R. Sickels, 25; Ali A. Almafoodh, 35; Stephen C. Perez, 45; and Lucas F. Beach, 38.

? One count each of attempted second-degree child rape and commercial sex abuse of a minor -- Dewayne L. Hetrick, 42, and Yasir M. Majeed, 35.

? Two counts of attempted first-degree child rape -- Thomas A. Swarers, 69.

? Attempted first-degree child rape -- Daniel A. Medina, 20.

Kristin M. Kraemer: 509-582-1531, @KristinMKraemer

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