Men sentenced to 12 years in prison for Internet stalking
Posted on Friday, August 15, 2008
BENTONVILLE — Two of the men arrested in an Internet sexual-predator sting were sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Santigo Gaston, 33, of Texarkana, Texas, and Gary Don Wood, 44, of Oklahoma City, Okla., pleaded guilty Thursday to Internet stalking of a child, a class B felony. They pleaded guilty under an arrangement Chief Public Defender Jay Saxton reached with Deputy Prosecutor Mike Armstrong.
Gentry police set up at a home Dec. 14-16, 2007, as part of Operation Safe Net, in which the department teamed with Perverted Justice to apprehend possible Internet sexual predators. Perverted Justice, an organization that uses volunteers who go online to catch adults trying to engage minors in sexual conduct, assisted police with the operation.
When men went to the home to meet the child, they were met by police instead.
Gaston and Wood were two of seven men arrested in the sting.
Circuit Judge David Clinger accepted the plea agreements and the men’s guilty pleas.
Both Gaston and Wood were sentenced to 12 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction. They will be eligible for parole after serving two years. After their release from prison, Gaston and Wood must abide by suspended-sentence agreements for six years.
Gaston and Wood must also enroll in and complete the prison’s sex-offender treatment program, and they will be required to register as sex offenders. Gaston and Wood must also each pay $ 2, 120 in court-associated costs.
Gaston and Wood were ordered not to have any unsupervised contact with anyone under 18 except for their biological children. The men were also ordered not to visit any online social networks.
James Brock Lyons II of Fort Smith and Jackie Ray Beasley of Fayetteville were also arrested in the sting. They have pleaded guilty to their charges and were sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Michael Scott Dickison of Springfield, Mo.; Freddie Ray Morgano, 36, of Muskogee, Okla.; and Reza Jafari of Stillwater, Okla., were also charged with Internet stalking of a child in connection with their arrests in the sting. Their cases have not been resolved.
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