The Flagstaff Police Department (FPD) is continuing its online sex sting operations from last month, making four additional felony arrests on Friday, May 9, and Saturday, May 10.
The new arrestees are Bill Decker, accused of luring of a minor for sexual exploitation; Aaron Jay Hudecek, accused of child sex trafficking and contributing to the delinquency of a minor; Ben Joseph Chaney; accused of child sex trafficking; and Jose Adonis Rodriguez, also accused of child sex trafficking.
Bond was set at $125,000 for Decker and $100,000 for the other three.
As of Wednesday, May 14, only Decker remained in the custody of the Coconino County Detention Facility, according to jail records. The other three suspects had been released on bond.
Under Arizona state law, the crime of luring a minor for sexual exploitation is as 鈥渙ffering or soliciting sexual conduct with another person knowing or having reason to know that the other person is a minor.鈥� It is a Class 3 felony, with a typical sentencing range of five to 15 years in prison.
Child sex trafficking is as 鈥渆ngaging in prostitution with a minor鈥� or otherwise causing, enticing or permitting a minor to engage in prostitution. Depending on the specifics of a defendant鈥檚 conduct and the minor鈥檚 age, child sex trafficking may be classified as a Class 2 felony, with a significant presumptive prison sentence, or a less-severe Class 5 felony with the possibility of probation.
贵笔顿听publicly confirmed it had been running a sting at the end of March, after the Arizona Daily Sun inquired about a cluster of arrests for sexual offenses including prostitution, sex trafficking and luring. Those arrests were based on messages sent by the suspects to detectives posing as minors on websites and social media platforms, Flagstaff police Detective Bethany Hyde said in an interview at that time.
The latest arrests were based on similar evidence and tactics, the department confirmed this week.聽
The department named 10 suspects from the earlier phase of the operation in a press release and social media post on April 2. As the Arizona Daily Sun reported last week, criminal proceedings are active against eight -- including Dave Zorn, who was a prominent radio host in Flagstaff -- while one case has been stayed and one suspect has not formally been charged yet in Coconino County Superior Court.