A Mayflower Police Department online “sting” investigation has resulted in the arrest of a shopping mall Santa Claus on suspicion of Internet stalking of a child.
James Gray Daniel, 50, of 95 Burns Road, Scott, Ark. (just southeast of Little Rock), allegedly made contact via the online Yahoo! Messenger service with a person presenting themselves as a 13-year-old Mayflower girl just before 1 p.m. on May 22, and proceeded to “solicit the victim for sex and arranged to meet her in Mayflower later on the same day,” according to a news release from Mayflower PD.
At about 2:45 that afternoon, Daniel arrived at the prearranged meeting spot, where he was arrested by Mayflower PD officers. Daniel was allegedly in possession of printed directions to the meeting spot.
During the arrest and questioning process, Daniel told officers that he had portrayed Santa Claus at McCain Mall “for several years,” according to the news release.
The sting operation was conducted by Investigator Chuck Barker of Mayflower PD, and further investigation is underway regarding information that could lead to the identification of other victims.
According to the news release, those conducting Mayflower PD’s online investigations have noticed a “spike” in this type of online criminal activity, and will be committing extra man-hours to investigate these cases.
“We intend to continue with our efforts and expect more cases to develop,” the news release states.
The Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office, Conway Police Department, Greenbrier Police Department and Vilonia Police Department all conduct similar online investigations, and anyone suspecting that a child may be conversing with a sexual predator is urged to contact law enforcement.
(Staff writer Joe Lamb can be reached by e-mail at joe.lamb@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1238. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)
Comments (18)
Add commentOnce again
Much as I hate to keep beating that horse (despite that being what teh Internets were built for) when did Mayflower PD's role become that of cyber-crime stings?
Yeah sure, it's good a child molester is off the street, but how did this role fall to little ol' Mayflower? Isn't there a state police? An FBI?
And again, lots of questions, to begin with did the guy really believe it was a 13 year old, or a consenting age someone pretending to be a 13 year old? And that's just for starters.
I mean, yay our law enforcement professionals and all that, but Mayflower PD cranking out cyber stings? Am I the only one who thinks that last sentence hits a discordant tone?
I agree
I'm tired of seeing police officers getting online and catalyzing these situations. It seems the gray area between a.) the guy trying to make contact with minors and b.) how far these agencies go to premeditate these situations just makes me scratch my head. As Igor pointed out, it seems to be legal these types of stings should be carried out by other agencies that are better trained, such as the FBI or the state police. Mayflower is the same district that just had an officer arrested after allowing an ex-felon ride in a vehicle equipped with police lights and provided a firearm. Now I'm supposed to get on here and applaud them for catching an mall Santa?
This debate
Has been going on for some time, at least since 2006 or so when I first heard of law enforcement folks conducting these "stings."
Don't know that we've made much headway.
Crazy
Are you guys crazy or something? Do any of you remember Kaci Woody, in Greenbrier? I bet her folks wished a small town cop would have arrested that man. These are child predators. Let me say that another way. This is someone who fancies themselves on children. I don't care if its Mayflower that apprehends them or the CIA, FBI, or any other agency. That perp is off of the streets.
Five-O, I'm pretty sure our
Five-O, I'm pretty sure our FBI and State Police have the capacity to do the job if Mayflower has the logistics to do it. I don't think we allocate the best equipment and resources to the city level, so I'm thinking the FBI and State Police conducting these things would be more effective, more accurate, and much more likely to hold up in court.
Better training, better equipment, that's the FBI (I tried making that into the Papa John's jingle :p)
Again
Another one bites the dust. Who cares if it was Mayflower that got him. He need to be off the street. My grand daughters are that age.
Voice: Do you have children?
Voice: Do you have children? If you do, would you care if that person was on their way to your house, when the Mayflower Police picked them up? I think not! Child predators often make numerous contacts and can make several stops, in one night. Kuddos to small town police who want to do more for their citizens. People want to complain when police are not proactive then complain when the crime level is too high. Maybe these sick individuals will think twice before coming to Faulkner County.
As far as the ASP and the federal government, they are very taxed on large crime and numerous other things. Yes, they can and do work on cyber crimes, but if all agencies,(federal and local) would pitch in and work together on this, this problem would almost become non-existant.
The more the merrier, for me. Keep my children safe.
Kuddos to MPD
In response to "Igor and The Voice in you're Head"... Your comments both amaze and concern me! I am a mother, and I have two teenage children. I for one am proud that the City of Mayflower has stepped up to the plate to protect our children from these types of predators. I wonder when we might read about our two negative fans on here?!?!? To think that policing the internet is the responsibility of State and Federal Agencies is rediculous! All agencies share the venue and responibility to do so. You talk about the lack of training and resources.... Do you know what the training record looks like for the Officer or Officers conducting these stings... I personally know one of the Officers involved, and know beyond specualtion that he has 45 arrests and a perfect conviction record which i am sure makes him more qualified and equiped than those federal and state officers with less! You question whether the guy believd he was talking to a minor... really?? i mean really?? do you think 45 convictions would result if the statute has not been met EVERYTIME?? You guys talk about past incidents stemming from the previous administration... Well just to set that record straight for anyone else reading... The Mayflower Police Department is under new management with more than 55 years of combined law enforcement experience! So, keep writing your negative comments! AND stay away from my children!!! Kuddos to the Mayflower Police Department and its dedicated Officers...Keep up the good work!
The Truth Hurts :)
It's sad to think that we have people out there who want to hurt our children but to know they are even on sites like this one and haven't gotten caught YET because you will 1 day, trust me! You guys/girls who are on here making the negative statements against ANY dept. that is doing such a great thing as protecting our children have got to be past/present predators or you could NEVER even think negative thoughts moreless speak them. Also from the things I have read on here about the Mayflower police dept. it sounds like to me they could care less about people like you making such stupid comments or they would not have stayed in law enforcement for ALL those yrs. That ole saying "If your in law enforcement and no one ever says anything bad about you then your NOT doing your job right or something" holds to be true I guess uh? I do want to thank Mayflower police officers and all the other great brother/sister officers for caring enough for other human beings besides your own! Wow Mayflower just might become my hometown someday, Keep up the good work.
The city of Mayflower
The city of Mayflower literally gave a felon a gun and a vehicle with police lights on it. If I was a parent and wanted that pedo to stay in jail, I'd much prefer an actual responsible police agency conducting these any day of the week. In fact, I'd feel much more confident if the FBI and State Police were in charge of these. I'm not saying not to arrest these fellows; I'm saying lets do a better job and that starts with addressing the source problem. Sorry it offends you