Redmond police arrest suspect in online luring of boys
A lengthy Redmond police investigation involving several online child-luring victims led to the arrest of a 25-year-old Dallas, Oregon man who allegedly used female aliases on Facebook and Instagram to exchange sexually explicit material with young boys in several states, officers said Monday. He was jailed in Bend on $2.25 million bail as police sought any other possible victims.
Redmond police received information last year from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Oregon Department of Justice’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force regarding sexually explicit material being sent to and received from minors on the two social networking sites, said Lt. Curtis Chambers (Instagram, a photo-oriented application, is owned by Facebook).
Through the investigation, several victims were identified as living in the Redmond area, Chambers said.
A search warrant was obtained and served Friday on the Dallas home of suspect Brandon H. Kautz, Chambers said. He was contacted and arrested, and brought to the Deschutes County Jail, from which he appeared for an initial arraignment Monday afternoon on a nine-count district attorney’s information (an initial charging document) on several counts of luring a minor and using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct.
Chambers said Kautz used female aliases online to lure and encourage the exchange of sexually explicit material with his victim. The known aliases used on Facebook and Instagram are “Bryttney Xievier” and “Elizabeth Pullock.”
The victims, minor boys, are located in several states, according to Chambers, who said Redmond detectives have been working with other agencies in Oregon and other states.
The Deschutes County DA’s charging document filed Monday lists two victims, by initials, and indicates a time frame for the alleged crimes of Sept. 1, 2015 to Jan. 30, 2016. Chambers told NewsChannel 21 that amid the ongoing investigation, he did not have details on the alleged victims’ ages.
Kautz appeared Monday afternoon before Deschutes County Circuit Judge Stephen Forte, who named a court-appointed counsel and set arraignment on an expected formal grand-jury indictment for next Monday at 1:30 p.m., according to online court records. They also indicate no prior Oregon criminal history for Kautz.
Chambers said Redmond police also believe there may be other victims in the Deschutes County area. They asked anyone knowing of such incidents or similar involvement with Kautz or the aliases used to let them know through the county’s non-emergency dispatch number at 541-693-6911.
“The Redmond Police Department wants our community to feel safe and would like to remind parents to be aware of any suspicious activity sent or received on their children’s devices, to include phone, computers and tablets,” Chambers wrote in a news release, also thanking the Dallas Police Department for assisting in the investigation..
Information and tips can be found on the Oregon Department of Justice Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children websites :
http://www.missingkids.com/home
