KINGSTON, Mass. (AP) – Eleven men, including the newest member of the Plymouth Board of Selectmen, were arrested for allegedly trying to solicit minors for sex online.
The Norfolk District Attorney’s office said police created fake online identities and posed as minors as part of the sting. The undercover officers chatted online for two months with the suspects. Some of those charged sent pornographic pictures depicting minors, police said.
Newly elected Plymouth selectman Sean Dodgson, 45, was among the men, ranging in age from 17 to 57, arrested Friday and Saturday in “Operation Trenchcoat.” He faces several charges, including two counts of distributing matter harmful to a minor.
Two New Hampshire residents also were among those arrested. The rest of the suspects are from Massachusetts.
The sting involved authorities from state police, federal customs agents and by investigators in the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department’s High Tech Evidence Analysis Team, or HEAT.
The men are scheduled to be arraigned today.
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