Staff Report

Devin Michael Brown

WARSAW — An Elkhart man was recently arrested after an online group that works to expose child predators allegedly caught him planning to have sex with two children.

Devin Michael Brown, 26, 29720 Connecticut Ave., Elkhart, is charged with child solicitation, a level 4 felony.

On Oct. 7, 2021, a Warsaw Police officer responded to a dispatch regarding a child predator at North Pointe Cinemas. Upon arrival, the officer spoke with a woman who said she worked for an organization called Predator Catchers, Inc.

According to court documents, the woman said she started communicating with Brown on a social media app. She told the officer she was acting as a 13-year-old decoy child trying to catch child predators. The decoy said early on in her messages, she told Brown multiple times that she was a 13-year-old girl.

During the investigation, several Warsaw Police officers learned that the decoy exchanged messages with Brown on Sept. 30, 2021. The messages started out as cordial but then became increasingly sexual in nature. Warsaw officers obtained a phone download and were able to see the text conversations between the decoy and Brown.

In the messages, Brown asked the decoy how many times she has had intercourse. Brown also told the decoy that he always had a fantasy of being with a younger girl, around the age of 10 to 14 years old. In the text conversation, Brown arranged to meet the 13-year-old girl and her seven-year-old cousin at the movie theater.

The plan was for Brown to buy tickets for the group to see a movie and for him to have sexual intercourse with the children in the theater.

Brown showed up at the movie theater and purchased three tickets to see a children’s movie. While at the theater, he was confronted by the decoy and captured on Facebook Live. Brown did not deny going to the theater to meet two children to have sexual intercourse. He also admitted to having condoms in his pocket.

Brown voluntarily went to the Warsaw Police Department for an interview. He told officers he contacted the decoy, who he thought was 13 years old, on a social media app. Brown said they struck up a friendship over their disgust with the city of Elkhart. He said that over the course of a couple of weeks, he believed he could help the child as a role model.

However, Brown said the conversation began to get sexual and he wanted to engage in sexual activities with the 13-year-old. He admitted to buying movie tickets for himself and two children. In his interview, Brown said his “fantasies” stemmed from watching Japanese anime films.

A Warsaw detective downloaded the contents of Brown’s phone and found explicit and graphic text messages from Brown to the decoy. In the messages to the decoy, Brown said he knew she was 13 years old; he told the decoy in the messages that he fantasized about being with a child.

Brown was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on Jan. 14, 2022, with a $15,250 surety and cash bond.