LANSING, Mich., Aug. 12, 2004 Legal news, law news, law firm news & research at LAWFUEL Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox announced today the arrest of a Kentwood, Mich., artificial intelligence computer software programmer who used the Internet to arrange two sexual encounters with a 14-year-old female persona who was actually an Attorney General investigator.
“Child predators seek out children online to commit the most heinous of
crimes,” Cox said. “These criminals emerge from behind their computer screens
to harm our children. My office will continue to apprehend these offenders,
prosecute them for their crimes and fight to keep them offline and behind
bars.”
David Dean Repogle, 25, who is considered one of the world’s top
artificial intelligence computer software programmers, was arrested Wednesday
morning at his Kentwood, Mich., home. He was arraigned before Judge William
Kelly of the 62-B District Court in Kent County on felony charges and remains
in Kent County Jail on $100,000 bond with the requirement that he neither use
the Internet nor have contact with persons under 18 years without supervision.
A preliminary exam is set for August 23 at 1 p.m.
Repogle faces six felony charges stemming from Wednesday’s arrest
including: one count of Child Sexually Abusive Activity, a 20-year and/or
$100,000 felony; four counts of using the Internet to communicate with another
to commit the crime of accosting a child for immoral purposes, a 10-year
and/or $5,000 felony; and one count of using the Internet to commit the crime
of distributing obscene matter to children, a four-year and/or $5,000 felony.
The Kentwood City Police Department assisted Attorney General
investigators in the arrest. Repogle is the fifteenth arrest in Attorney
General Cox’s effort to utilize undercover investigators to identify and
prosecute Internet child predators.
Web Site: http://www.michigan.gov/ag
