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A Warsaw man is facing a level 5 felony charge of child solicitation and a Class A misdemeanor charge of resisting law enforcement after arranging a meeting with who he thought was a 13-year-old girl.
On May 9, Kosciusko County Central Dispatch advised a man, later identified as Joshua Charles Jarrett, 25, of 1303 Husky Trail, Apt. 133, Warsaw, attempted to meet with a 13-year-old female on Husky Trail. Three Warsaw Police Department officers responded, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed May 22.
An officer spoke with a Bikers Against Predators representative, who said Jarrett communicated with a decoy on Grindr and via text messages and the decoy said she was 13 years old. Jarrett gave an address on Husky Trail to meet up at and asked the decoy questions that were sexual in nature. The decoy walked up to meet Jarrett at the meeting spot. Jarrett noticed the group of people and he walked away toward his residence, according to court documents.
The decoy provided the text conversation that showed the decoy said she was 13 and Jarrett responded, “That shouldn’t be a problem.” He texted, “I think you know what kind of fun I’m looking for. But anyway, I’m here to chat,” then he texted her, “This could get me into trouble but I don’t mind. I am looking to have sex with someone.”
Jarrett invited the decoy to meet him on Husky Trail and asked her, “Okay, what have you done so far? So are you a virgin?” and asked questions and made statements of a sexual nature.
An officer spoke with Jarrett, attempted to secure his cell phone for evidence and Jarrett put his hands in his pocket to block law enforcement from retrieving his cell phone, the court documents state. Officers grabbed Jarrett who pulled away from officers and an officer forcibly removed the phone from Jarrett.
Another officer read Jarrett the Miranda Rights, Jarrett indicated he understood and said in the past he conducted multiple “tests” that included children meeting with him and their parents/guardians showed up, too. Jarrett explained that he was trying to teach the children not to meet with strangers and the parents would thank him.
Jarrett indicated that once he knew the decoy was 13, he wanted to “test the theory” and see if her parents taught her about safety. Jarrett said he talked about sexual content in an attempt to make the decoy uncomfortable so she would back out.
A WPD detective obtained a search warrant from TextNow that confirmed communication between Jarrett and the decoy.
Jarrett has an initial hearing at 8:15 a.m. June 26 in Superior Court I.
A booking photo of Jarrett was unavailable.
