UNDERCOVER WORK NETS ALLEGED INTERNET PERV
Friday, August 15th, 2008 -- 2:09 PM
A former high school girls basketball coach is charged in Langlade County with several internet sex counts after an investigation by the Clark County Sheriff's Department.53-year-old Alan Heistad faces three felonies after authorities say he used the internet to have sexual discussions and eventually try to meet with what he thought was 15-year-old girl.
It was actually Detective Jeff Baumgarten.
Once an investigator sets up an undercover account, it usually doesn't take long to get bites.
"You go online and pose as a child, there are multiple hits within a very short time," Baumgarten explains.
Some of those bites fizzle out, others don't.
The Langlade County man began having discussions with Baumgarten's 15-year-old alter ego last October.
"There were times it may go a month between contact. In the last few months, it was at least every few days," he explains.
This is a fairly new world for detectives.
Entrapment issues could arise if they're not careful. Therefore they have to wait for would-be pedophiles to initiate contact. And, after contact, it may take awhile for an inappropriate act to become an illegal act.
"The ones we're looking for are the ones that actually make an attempt to meet with a child or a person they believe is a child, or talk on the telephone, or show inappropriate materials."
"When they take that next step, those are the ones we're going to look at."
Baumgarten says parents need to be aware of their children's online activities. He recommends putting home computers in open places?not bedrooms.
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