Alleged Internet Predator Arrested at Statehouse, WBNS, October 31, 2007

Alleged Internet Predator Arrested at Statehouse

WBNS
October 31, 2007

http://www.10tv.com/?sec=news&story=sites/10tv/content/pool/200710/708992282.html

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A man was arrested Wednesday morning at the Ohio Statehouse after authorities said he set up a meeting with a 14-year-old girl who he thought was visiting the building on a field trip.

According to police, Barry Mentser (pictured, right) chatted with an officer posing as a teenage girl on the Internet for about a year before the meeting was arranged, 10TV's Maureen Kocot reported.

Investigators told 10TV News that Mentser, 48, asked the teenager to meet him outside of the Statehouse's caf. It was there that Mentser was taken into custody, Kocot reported.

"He actually came into the Statehouse, which we weren't sure he was going to do," said Hamilton Township police Lt. Jeff Braley. "If this doesn't illustrate how far they'll go, I don't know what will."

While Mentser was placed under arrest, AN Ohio Senate hearing was taking place upstairs where lawmakers were discussing a bill that would strengthen penalties against cyber predators.

An officer testifying before a committee on Senate Bill 183 left the hearing after telling reporters that he had arranged a meeting with a man who thought he was meeting a teenage girl on a field trip.

"According to (Mentser's) e-mails, it was his intent to lure this juvenile away from the field trip that she was supposedly on," Braley said. "The drive in these guys for the contact with a juvenile is so strong that there's not a lot that's going to deter them."

Republican State Senator Tim Schaffer said that more needs to be done to stop online predators from reaching out to children.

"It's infuriating that these predators who want to do harm to our children and our families can get off with so little time," Schaffer said. "This is a growing crime and we've got to make sure we're protecting our families and sending a strong message to these predators that you're going to do time in prison if you do this offense."

Mentser, a New Albany resident who works as an attorney, was charged with felony attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a child, Kocot reported.

10TV News learned that from 1987 to 1990 Mentser worked for Franklin County Children Services where we once represented a 12-year-old boy who had been allegedly molested by a priest, Kocot reported.

Police said they would search Mentser's home in an attempt to locate his computer.

Stay with 10TV News and refresh 10TV.com for additional information.