GREENVILLE — A “covert operation” led Greenville Police to arrest a Covington man Wednesday on sex charges.
Police arrested Justin Canan, 37, Wednesday after during an operation to attempt to locate adults attempting to meet minors for sexually related purposes.
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On June 16, a detective from the Greenville Police Department operating a “covert Facebook account,” posing as a 15-year-old girl, when the received a message from an account named “Justin Canan,” according an affidavit.
The detective continued communications with Canan and stated he asked to meet in person multiple times, according to court documents filed in Darke County Common Pleas Court.
Canan messaged the account again with sexually explicit messages, including a photo, Wednesday morning, according to court documents. The detective, still posing as the teenaged girl, then set up a meeting with Canan on near a bridge near Tamarack Trail in Greenville.
Later that morning, the detective found Canan in the area they agreed upon and arrested him.
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The detective stated that while arresting Canan, they saw a cellphone in Canan’s hand. When the detective grabbed it, they saw if have been put into factory reset mode.
Canan was in the same clothing that was worn in the photo sent to the undercover account earlier that morning, according to court documents. Canan later admitted to resetting the cellphone and sending messages to the undercover account.
Canan is being held in the Darke County jail on preliminary charges of importuning, disseminating matter harmful to juveniles and tampering with evidence.
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