He was arrested in 2005 for a similar offense.
An Indian American resident of Franklin, Indiana, has been arrested after he was found messaging teens, trying to lure them into sex in return for money.
According to Dailyjournal, the Franklin police department said that Mihirbhai N. Patel, who was earlier accused of a similar crime, was arrested after a detective messaged the 27-year-old disguising as a teen, offering to have sex in return of $100.
Franklin police said that the accused was messaging three teenage students of Whiteland Community High School, and eventually asked one of them to have sex with him. The incident came to light after the student reported to the teacher about a stranger who messages on Instagram.
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The police also confirmed that Patel was earlier arrested on a similar charge in 2015. He was accused of paying a teenage boy whom he met online for having sex on two occasions, reported Dailyjournal.
At the time, Patel was working as a substitute teacher, and he was released after completing community service and sex offender evaluation and treatment and after paying a fine through the pretrial diversion program.
According to the police, Patel was caught the second time for almost similar offence when he came to meet a 16-year-old boy for a sex act, but the boy turned out to be a detective.
The department is currently looking at the possibility of scrutinizing Patel’s social media accounts to further understand whether he has communicated with other teens. To verify this, the Franklin police department has confiscated Patel’s smartphone and has requested for a search warrant.
The three boys he contacted were suspicious about a stranger who was messaging them. Two of them discontinued the discussion, but one continued. When Patel’s conversation started to turn ugly, the student reported it to his teacher, who in turn informed the police.
The Franklin police found that Patel was trying to lure the boy into sex by paying the teen $100 each time they met.
Patel was arrested and taken to the Johnson County jail and released on $6,600 bond.
The Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office will decide what, if any, charge to file.