Agents of the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, along with officers of the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, arrested Bradley A. Claus, 23, of Wright City, Mo., Thursday, when he arrived in Carthage, Mo., to meet with what he believed was a 13-year-old girl he met on the Internet.
Jasper County Detective Ed Bailey, who is assigned to the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, began chatting with Claus on Oct.9, 2009, in an Internet chat room. Bailey participated in three chat sessions with Claus, all sexual in nature. Claus arranged to meet the child in Carthage on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009.
Task force member Det. Ed Bailey, Det. Corporal Roy Teed and Deputy Aaron Bartlett, all from the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, placed the meeting place under surveillance.
At 9:30 p.m., Claus sent a message to the “child” saying that he was in town at a local motel and asked for a change in the meeting place. Claus was directed to another location and was subsequently arrested when he arrived at approximately 9:45 p.m.
Claus was taken into custody on a 24 hour investigative hold for Enticement of a Child, an unclassified felony and Sexual Misconduct with a Child, a class D felony. The case will be submitted to the Jasper County Prosecutor for filing of formal charges.
