By SYDNEY KENT
A man who drove two and a half hours to meet a 13-year-old in Bluffton pled guilty to sexual abuse.
Jeremy Ryan Back, 43, Sunman, Indiana, appeared in the Wells Circuit Court for a change of plea hearing late last month. Back pled guilty to one count of child solicitation, a Level 4 felony.
According to a probable cause affidavit, police were dispatched to Walmart in Bluffton in response to a Predator Catchers case in June 2023. The group has become known for facilitating stings in the area, garnering an additional nine cases in recent years.
Part of the process involves giving local police a binder containing evidence of the crime. Back’s case did not differ. In the binder containing messages between Back and “Katie”, the decoy, he repeatedly asked for naked photos. Back also described various acts he intended to perform on the child.
The same weekend Back was taken into custody, Austin Phillips, 43, Marion, was also arrested for attempting to solicit a child for sex in Bluffton. Phillips has since been sentenced to six years in prison with three of those years suspended after he pled guilty to the charge.
Back is scheduled for a sentencing hearing at 10 a.m. on July 9 in the Wells Circuit Court.
sydney@news-banner.com
