A Scarborough man was extradited to North Carolina last month after being caught in a sting aimed at capturing online predators.
William Ernest Vogel, 42, of 11 Barbara Drive, was arrested by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 20 and was held in the county jail for 14 days until two officers from the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina came up to bring him there to face a charge of soliciting a child by computer to commit an unlawful sex act.
Vogel did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Capt. Bobby Steen of the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, a member of a nationwide task force targeting crimes against children, said the investigation into Vogel began several months ago when Steen, posing as a 14-year-old girl in an online chat room, first made contact with Vogel.
During their online correspondence Vogel allegedly solicited sex and had suggested several places to meet, including the Maine Mall, Steen said. In North Carolina it is illegal to solicit sex with someone under 18 via a computer. It is also illegal in Maine.
After Steen swore out an arrest warrant, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office arrested Vogel. Two weeks later, Steen and another officer drove about 16 hours from North Carolina to Portland to pick Vogel up.
Vogel did not speak a lot to Steen or the other officer transporting him to North Carolina during the trip down south. Steen noted he cried a lot.
Vogel was held on $100,000 bail in North Carolina, but was eventually released on a $10,000 secured bond on Nov. 14 after “one of our liberal judges lowered the bond,” Steen said.
The single charge carries a maximum prison sentence of two to five years, Steen said. It is unclear when Vogel will stand trial, but it could be as much as two years from now.
This is the fourth arrest from an online case Steen has made this year. Most of the suspects were from the South with the farthest arrest until now happening in Georgia, a few hours away from Steen’s office. None of the cases that Steen has investigated have yet gone to court.
As a member of the task force Steen enters various chat rooms posing as an underage female. Within the first 15 minutes of logging on Steen estimates he gets “hit on” by some 20 to 25 men from all over the world. About half of those will end the conservation upon learning the girl’s age. Another 10 or so are interested in meeting and those are further whittled down based on their enthusiasm.
“You try to pick and choose; it’s the luck of the draw William Vogel happened to be from Maine,” Steen said.
This and other online stings conducted by Steen are done during work hours as part of his professional duties. Steen always uses the same computer in the office, which saves the online discussions for evidence during prosecution.
“I have really good evidence,” he said.
Steen believes his sting is a bit of preventative law enforcement work.
“He may actually be talking to a 14- or 15-year-old girl and he could really meet her,” he said. “That possibility is there.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
