A man arrested in a child solicitation roundup last May will serve three years in prison.
Joshua L. Sliter, 30, of Greentown, was sentenced to six years for a charge of child solicitation, a Level 4 felony, by Johnson County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Roesener Thursday. As part of a plea agreement filed on March 2, a Level 6 felony charge of providing pornography to minors was dismissed.
Three years of Sliter’s sentence will be served in prison, followed by three years on probation. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.
Sliter was one of 11 men arrested in a child solicitation sting in May 2022. The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office organized the three-day roundup, collaborating with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and the Franklin Police Department.
JCSO deputies and Franklin police officers set up fake profiles posing as a 14-year-old on websites used to find sexual partners, including Reddit and Adam for Adam. The profile drew interest from men from all over Indiana, according to a press release on the operation.
Men ranging in age from 19 to 49 from as far away as Greentown and as close by as Greenwood messaged the child. After an exchange with the child and with the awareness that the child is underage, they arranged to meet up with them, Johnson County Sheriff Duane Burgess said in a statement on the operation.
Police found the men were willing to travel a great distance to meet up with a person they believed was 14, Burgess said. Sliter traveled two hours and 11 minutes, or 113 miles, to meet the child.
Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner said Sliter’s sentence sends a strong message to sexual predators that law enforcement wouldn’t tolerate “this despicable behavior.” The predators will be caught and sent to prison, he said.
He was also proud of the work done by the sheriff’s office.
“I am proud of the hard work by our sheriff’s office tracking these guys down and amassing sufficient evidence to put them away,” Hamner said. “This kind of teamwork is how we keep our community safe.”
