By SYDNEY KENT
A man from Fort Wayne was arrested for attempting to solicit a child for sex in Bluffton.
32-year-old Williams Perez Hernandez was charged with one count of child solicitation, a Level 4 felony.
According to a probable cause affidavit, police were dispatched to Kroger in Bluffton around 8:28 p.m. on June 16. Hernandez was reportedly located in the chip aisle, along with several members from Predator Catchers Indianapolis.
PCI is well-known for acting as a decoy online, facilitating in-person meetings with adults who attempt to solicit the decoy for sex. Hernandez is the group’s 15th arrest in Wells County in recent years.
Hernandez claimed to be simply shopping for groceries after returning from a day at the lake. Screenshots of text messages, provided by PCI, indicated otherwise.
The text messages, captured from the website “Grindr”, allegedly detail an interaction between Hernandez and who he believed to be a 14-year-old male. Hernandez allegedly offered to meet the decoy for sexual purposes one day after the conversation began.
Hernandez reportedly initiated the conversation and requested to meet the child the same day.
Hernandez preliminarily pled not guilty to the charges during his initial hearing last week, where the court determined that he did not qualify for a public defender. He is scheduled for a status of counsel hearing in the matter at 8 a.m. on July 2.
sydney@news-banner.com
