LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 29, 2012) —Police say a British man flew to the United States this week to meet a minor female he had met online. When he arrived Monday at the Bluegrass Airport in Lexington, he was instead met by law enforcement.
The arrest stems from a nearly three-month long investigation by the Kentucky State Police Electronic Crimes Branch.
Solomon Waters, 41, of London, England, is charged with multiple state and federal crimes as a result of the investigation. He is lodged in the Fayette County Detention Center.
Waters was arrested as a result of an undercover Internet Crimes Against Children investigation involving illegal Internet activity occurring from his home in England into the United States. The investigation culminated with Waters allegedly traveling to Kentucky, where he believed he was meeting a minor female. He was taken into custody and lodged in the Fayette County Detention Center.
Officers from the Bluegrass Airport, Lexington Division of Police, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Kentucky State Police Electronic Crime Branch participated in the operation.
“There were a lot of things that had to go perfect for this operation to be successful. Only by the cooperative efforts of law enforcement officials on the U.S. and British side were we able to have a positive outcome,” said Lt. Shane Bates, commander of the Kentucky State Police Electronic Crime Branch. “We are fortunate that we can reach out anywhere in the world and find partners that are willing to help fight child exploitation. This case serves as yet another reminder that Internet related child sexual exploitation is truly a global concern.”
The Kentucky State Police is the lead law enforcement agency for the state’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. The ICAC program is a national network of 61 coordinated local task forces engaged in both proactive and reactive investigations, as well as community education. The ICAC program was developed in response to the increasing number of children using the Internet, the proliferation of unlawful images, and the heightened online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims.
For tips about online safety, visit www.netsmartz411.org.
NetSmartz411 is an online resource for answering questions about Internet safety. It is provided at no cost to the public by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
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