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SALT LAKE CITY — A major operation by Salt Lake City Police officers targeting people going after kids for sex online resulted in dozens of arrests over the last year.
Since last September, the Organized Crime Squad has arrested 50 men in Salt Lake City alone; that works out to almost an arrest every week.
Investigators said those men ranged in age from 21-to-80 years old.
“They are very active in pursuing these kids,” said SLC Police Detective Greg Wilking in an exclusive interview. “That means there are quite a few people out there searching for minors to have sexual contact with. It’s scary.”
Wilking said it takes the phrase “stranger danger” to a whole new level for parents worried about their children.
“Stranger danger right here on our kids’ devices on their phones on their computers,” he said. “It’s important that we have communication with our kids about these issues, that we are paying attention to what our kids are doing online on the computer, but also on the phone.”
“You are going to get caught — it’s only a matter of time."-Greg Wilking, Salt Lake police detective.
Wilking said a year ago, members of the Organized Crime Squad met with the Special Victims Unit with the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office to learn how to pose as youths online.
“We’ve made sure the DA’s office is onboard of how we are carrying out the operation and it’s quick to file paperwork and quick to put them in the justice system,” Wilking said.
As a result, Wilking said most of the suspects have pleaded guilty because of so much evidence against them.
One of the most prominent arrests during the operation was Disney actor Stoney Westmoreland, who was in town filming. Westmoreland was arrested on charges of trying to lure what he believed to be a 13-year-old for sex.
Wilking had a message to those trying to do this.
“You are going to get caught – it’s only a matter of time,” he said. “It’s inappropriate. It’s against the law. Your world is going to get turned upside down.”
