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Cops arrest man for luring minors online
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CopyIn recent weeks, Yavapai County Sheriff's Office detectives developed information that 21-year-old Prescott Valley resident Christopher Lewis engaged in numerous sexual acts with females under the age of 18 while he was an adult.
Lewis had contacted the minors via Facebook and developed an online relationship which eventually led to direct contact and a sexual relationship. During the detective's online investigation, Lewis sent a photo of his genitalia via Facebook to a female he believed was 14 years old. Lewis has been charged with aggravated luring a minor for sexual exploitation for this action.
As the investigation was unfolding, detectives tracked down two minor female victims unrelated to each other. Both are from the Prescott basin area and acknowledged a sexual relationship in the past with Lewis after he initiated a "friend" request via Facebook.
The first victim told detectives she first had online contact with Lewis when she was 14 years old. Right after her 15th birthday in 2013, she began dating Lewis and indicated he "pressured" her to have sex with him. At the time they were dating, Lewis told her parents he was 17 when in fact he was 19 years of age.
The second victim told detectives she began dating Lewis in December 2014 when she was 16 years of age. This led to an ongoing sexual relationship which ended in February of this year. Lewis had also sent pictures of his genitalia to this victim on occasion. Lewis was 20 years of age at the time. After obtaining victim statements, detectives served a search warrant at Lewis' Prescott Valley home on Oct. 29 to recover evidence such as computers and phones. Lewis was also arrested at that time and booked into the Yavapai County Detention Center in Camp Verde on charges including 10 counts of sexual conduct with a minor. He has since been released on a $20,000 bond.
Citizens can contact the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office with information or questions at (928) 771-3260 or the YCSO website.
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