BRADFORD COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — State police announced the arrests of six men after conducting a child predator sting.
From April 7 through April 11, state police began a child predator sting in Bradford County, aiming to identify offenders involved in the possession, distribution, and production of child sexual abuse material, as well as locate victims of child exploitation.
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According to Pennsylvania State Police, detectives responded to 15 homes investigating "internet-related" crimes against children. As a result, seven residential search warrantswere executed, leading to the following six arrests:
Pennsylvania State Police: (Top row from left: Robert Michel, Calvin Shaffer, Evan Hitchcock. Bottom row from left: Brandon Lantz, Brad Swink, Robert Pillot.)
Robert Michel, of Wysox, 10 counts of sexual abuse of children
Calvin Shaffer, of Wyalusing, 10 counts of sexual abuse of children
Evan Hitchcock, of Rome, 10 counts of sexual abuse of children
Brandon Lantz, of Athens, 11 counts of sexual abuse of children
Brad Swink, of Rome, three counts of sexual abuse of children
Robert Pillot, of Canton, 20 counts of sexual abuse of children
One person's arrest is pending the results of a digital forensics investigation.
One of the men facing charges was an assistant pastor at North Rome Wesleyan Church.
The church put out a statement saying in part:
"We are shocked and saddened with the news of the arrest of assistant pastor, Rev. Brad swink. Rev. Swink has been suspended from his role at the church, and his credentials suspended, pending further developments."
The operation located and identified several juvenile victims, and police noted that the victims and parents were educated about the dangers of online activity.
This operation was conducted by several agencies including the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the Northeast Computer Crime Task Force, FBI agents from field offices in Philadelphia and Williamsport, Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, Eastern Child Predator Unit, along with other local police agencies and county detectives.
