By SYDNEY KENT
Predator Catchers Indianapolis successfully facilitated another arrest at Walmart in Bluffton on Friday.
Robert William Karn, 40, was charged with child solicitation, a Level 4 felony. Karn is the thirteenth subject to be caught in a PCI sting in the county in recent years.
In a video live-streamed on the group’s Youtube channel, Karn admitted to a former arrest. He suggested that he had served several years in prison for the charges. PCI member Eric Schmutte asked Karn if he had abused a child before.
“He sat on my lap,” Karn confirmed. “I touched his thighs, and that was it.”
“And you got two years?” Schmutte asked.
“I got four years suspended,” Karn answered. “Then I had sexual paraphernalia and I got sent on parole.”
According to a probable cause affidavit, Karn was convicted of child molesting, a Class C felony, in 2008. Karn received a fully suspended four-year sentence after he pled guilty to touching the genitals of his nine-year-old nephew and attempting to lure him into his bed. The case was tried in the Allen Superior Court.
In the video, Karn had a Mountain Dew in his cart. Schmutte asked if the pop was intended for who he believed to be a 14-year-old child. Karn denied this, despite the fact that screenshots of messages between Karn and the decoy indicate otherwise.
“I would have bought him a cold one,” Karn replied.
Karn is scheduled for a pretrial conference in the matter at 1 p.m. on July 17 in the Wells Circuit Court.
sydney@news-banner.com
