Wanted To See Sex Sting, Barber Arrested In Undercover Operation Claims

A Florida barber, who was among seven men arrested last week in an operation by the police where an undercover detective pretended to be a child and lured the men to have sex, said he just wanted to see an undercover sex sting in action, reports said Monday.

James Bowen, the 34-year-old co-owner of Bob’s Barbershop in Gainesville, “told deputies he only came to the meeting place because he believed it was an undercover sting and he thought it would be cool to see it in action,” the Volusia County sheriff’s office said in a statement. Bowen got what he wanted and was arrested, sheriff’s spokesman Andrew Gant said.

The men were arrested at Racetrac station in Deltona as part of the operation called “Operation Unlawful Attraction,” according to a report in Fox News. It added Bowen was wearing a shirt carrying the caption “I would cuddle you so much harder” at the time of the arrest.

Bowen, like the other six men, engaged in sexually charged chats and texts with an undercover detective who he assumed to be a 14-year-old girl, the sheriff’s office said.

A report in the Gainesville Sun said Bowen was in custody at the Volusia County jail with a bond of $40,000. He and the other six men were charged for allegedly using a computer to seduce, solicit or lure a child; attempted lewd and lascivious battery; travel to seduce, solicit or lure a child; and use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony.

The arrests were announced Monday by Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood at a media conference where he was joined by members of the agency’s Child Exploitation Unit, as well as Daytona Beach Police Chief Craig Capri.

“As many times as we do this, it’s like a moth to a flame,” Chitwood said, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported. “You’ve got these scumbags (who) think they are going to have sex with a 14- or 15-year-old.”

The other men who were arrested were: Jonathan William Hayes of Eustis, 22, a former Florida Elks Youth Camp counselor and currently a maintenance worker; George Wallace, 43, of Green Acres Circle in South Daytona, worked in nursing for Comfort Keepers; Ryan Kirk, 31, unemployed, of Eslinger Road in New Smyrna Beach; Jorge A Cruz, 49, a mechanic of Homestead Avenue, DeBary; Jonathan Harden, 25, Orlando Health of Sanford; Ronald J Foley, 28, self-employed pressure washer, of Twin Coach Court, Daytona Beach.

Reports said according to the authorities, both Wallace and Hayes previously had sex with a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old. An Undercover detective indicated Wallace did it more than once. The report said Hayes detailed his previous sexual encounter with a chatter who he thought was a 14-year-old.

“We talk about it all the time, the internet is a dangerous place,” Chitwood said. “Previous times we’ve done this assignment, we’ve had people show up with duct tape. We’ve had had people show up with pills. We’ve had people show up with ski masks, condoms, Viagra, you name it. This is what you deal with.”