By Heather Carlson
hcarlson@postbulletin.com
MANTORVILLE — Seven men face criminal charges for allegedly soliciting sex online from deputies posing as 14-year-old girls.
The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office and the Kasson Police Department teamed up for the Internet sting.
The seven men have been charged in Dodge District Court with felony solicitation of children and third-degree attempted sexual conduct.
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Charged are Darrell Ray Thornton, 50, of New Ulm, Minn.; Forrest Grant Noggle, 27, of Rice, Minn.; Robert Lewis Kienbuam, 43, of Spring Lake Park, Minn.; Gabriel Mark Beal, 33, of Joice, Iowa; Blake Eric Calatayud, 21, of Savage, Minn.; Douglas Scott Nelson, 44, of Waseca; and Swaraj Mukherjee, 31, of Coon Rapids, Minn.
Thompson said charges also could be filed against two other individuals in connection with the sting.
According to the criminal complaints, from May 8 to May 12 officers posed as 14-year-old girls in Yahoo! romance chat rooms. The conversations with the charged men turned sexual with the individuals indicating they would like to have sex with the underage girl. In each case, a meeting place was arranged in Dodge County. When the men arrived, they were arrested. Some of the men brought alcohol and condoms with them to the meeting place.
These arrests follow two previous Internet stings launched by the Kasson Police Department. The first, in March 2006, netted seven arrests. A sting last July led to the arrest of one man.
Dodge County Assistant Prosecutor Gary ReMine said these Internet stings should send a message to Internet predators: "If you want to have sex with children in Dodge County, we have a cell waiting for you."
