Saturday, July 15, 2017
Staff report
LISBON
A sting operation conducted by Austintown police caught a Lisbon man trying to engage in sexual activity with a minor, a report states.
Matthew Earl, 36, of Lisbon Road, is charged with importuning a minor and possession of criminal tools. He was taken into custody by Austintown police Wednesday at McDonald’s on state Route 45.
He reportedly planned to meet a minor at the restaurant to “discuss farming animals.”
The report said Earl “communicated with the underage male via text message in a graphic manner.”
Austintown police set up the sting by posting a male seeking male ad on the internet classifieds site Backpage.com.
Earl reportedly answered the ad June 14, and knowingly conversed with an undercover officer posing as a 15-year-old boy, said Detective Jeff Solic of Austintown police.
Warrants were drafted for Earl’s arrest shortly after he answered the ad, Solic said, and they set up a meeting.
Solic said department surveillance had Earl at an Austintown hotel coaxing the minor to visit him.
“Earl continued to converse for the sole purpose of engaging in sexual activity,” Solic said.
Earl’s court date is set for Monday at 1 p.m.