- NEWS RELEASE -

Date: January 5, 2006

Subject: Platte County starts new year with Internet conviction

In the Platte County Courthouse, the new year began where 2005 left off: with law enforcement officials taking the fight to Internet predators. The first criminal sent to prison from the county was Casey R. Brandt, 24, of Olathe, Kansas, who received a five-year sentence for using the Internet to try to lure a child into a sexual encounter.

Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd said, “Hunting down Internet perverts will continue to be one of my highest priorities. Platte County’s Cyber Crimes Unit was among the first squads in Missouri to actively target predators who use the Internet to hurt children, and we plan to build on our successes in the coming year.”

Brandt was sentenced to prison January 5 after pleading guilty to child enticement. Brandt admitted he used the Internet to solicit a person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl for sex.

According to Zahnd, on May 17, 2005, Brandt contacted a detective with Platte County’s Cyber Crimes Unit over the Internet. The detective was posing as a 14-year-old girl in a chat room. Brandt’s Internet chat became sexually explicit, and he offered to meet the girl for oral sex.

Brandt requested a picture of the 14-year-old girl. Authorities provided him with a photo which had been digitally-created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and which resembles a young girl who does not actually exist. Brandt also sent a picture of himself via a web cam.

Still believing he was talking to a young girl, Brandt arranged to meet the girl at her home to have sex.

Zahnd said that less than two hours after beginning the Internet chat, Brandt arrived at an undercover location which he believed to be the girl’s residence. Brandt was immediately arrested, and detectives found two condoms in his pocket.

Platte County Sheriff Richard Anderson said, “Our Cyber Crimes Unit has accomplished much since it began in 2004, and 2006 will be no different. As long as predators continue to use the Internet to try to abuse children, Platte County detectives and prosecutors will work tirelessly to arrest and prosecute them.”

The case was investigated by detectives in Platte County’s Cyber Crimes Unit and was prosecuted by Myles Perry, who is the assistant prosecutor assigned to that unit.