Indiana man sentenced to 10 years for cyber child sex crime

A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced an Evansville, Ind., man to 10 years in prison for driving to Independence to meet a young girl for sex and for distributing child pornography over the Internet.
U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple sentenced Michael A. Stratton, 27, to the years without a chance for parole, according to a statement by acting U.S. Attorney Matt Whitworth.
Stratton in January admitted that he traveled to Independence to meet a person who he thought was a mother of an 8-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl. The mother, he believed, was going to make the children available for sex acts with him.
Instead, the “mother” was an undercover Independence police officer.
He had chatted with the officer in an Internet chat room last July. During the chat, Stratton sent the officer two videos that contained child pornography and bestiality (sex with animals), according to the release.
Six days after that chat, Stratton contacted the undercover officer. He sent photos of child pornography and bestiality. During the chats, he spoke about sexual activities with the “mother’s” children.
One day later, Stratton arranged to travel from Indiana to Independence.
Officers arrested him at the meeting location.
But that’s not all of Stratton’s erotic illegal behavior.
Authorities have identified five children who Stratton had planned sexual meetings with in Texas and North Carolina.
He scheduled an eight-day trip to Texas to meet the mother of her children and her sister’s children, one of whom he believed was 2-years-old. Also, Stratton planned to meet a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina. He told officers he was waiting until she turned 16 years old so she could drive and “run away from her mother,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Investigators in the Independence Police Department’s Special Victims Unit pose as underage girls in chat rooms, waiting for pedophiles to strike up a conversation with them. Those chats usually end up with pictures and videos of child or adult  pornography.
The unit continues each day to make cases against alleged pedophiles who prey on underage girls online, whether through chat rooms or Web cams.
About five months ago, department officials decided to combine the sex crimes and cyber crimes units, said  Ken Bergman, captain of the department’s criminal investigations unit.
“We’ve got them working together now, and it’s been working great,” Bergman said. “It’s such a proactive unit. We’re seeking out these violators before they can violate again.”
The unit has seven investigators who routinely work more than 40 hours a week.
Also, the unit investigates rapes and all sexual offenses, including child abuse and molestation.
“It’s very rewarding being able to put these people behind bars,” said Sgt. Phil Hininger, who works in the unit.