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Last updated on Friday, August 28, 2015
(JASPER) - A Grand Rapids, Michigan man was arrested for allegedly soliciting sex from a 14-year-old Jasper Middle School student through a series of online chats over a five-month timeframe.
According to the Jasper Police Department, they obtained warrants for 44-year-old Michael P. Van Houten, of Grand Rapids, for Level 5 felony counts of child solicitation.
Dubois County Free Press reports, on Wednesday, the Grand Rapids Police Department executed those warrants and arrested Van Houten at his place of business in Grand Rapids.
The charges stem from a nearly 5-month long investigation in which Van Houten was having online chats with a girl he thought was 14 years old. During the chats, Van Houten solicited the girl for various sex acts and even made plans to meet her on two different occasions. Those plans were never acted upon, according to police.
Van Houten will be extradited to Dubois County to face charges.
The Huntingburg Police Department, Dubois County Sheriff's Department, and Dubois County Prosecuting Attorney's office assisted in the investigation as well.
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