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Kansas man convicted of enticing local girl to send him sexually explicit photos

By Howard B. Owens

A Wichita, Kan., resident was convicted Friday in federal court of one count of enticing a teenage girl to send him sexually explicit photos of herself.

The teen was from Batavia and Det. Todd Crossett and Office Jay Andrews helped bring the man to justice.

"He was definitely a sexual predator," said Crossett, who, along with Andrews, was in Wichita last week to testify at the trial. "He had a past history of doing this sort of thing and he does it again soon after he gets out of prison. That indicates the kind of person he is."

The man, Shane M. McClelland, 26, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in federal prison, and perhaps a life sentence.

The 14-year-old girl from Batavia testified at the trial and identified McClelland as the man she had seen in Web cam pictures.

According to prosecutors, McClelland over the course of days, pressured and persuaded the girl to email him nude photos.

Crossett testified about the chain of evidence and his exchange of text messages with McClelland while posing as the 14-year-old girl.

The case, Crossett said, that in this day-and-age, sexual predators are always close by.

"This is an example of what can happen if kids and parents aren't careful," Crossett said.

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