The Waterloo Police Department arrested yet another suspected sexual predator Friday morning at the Moto Mart gas station and convenience store along Route 3.

Austyn J. Brown, 27, of Cahokia Heights, was charged in Monroe County Circuit Court with indecent solicitation of a minor, grooming and traveling to meet a minor as the result of another sting orchestrated by the Online Predator Intervention group – the second such arrest this month and third since the end of October.

According to a video shared on the group’s Facebook page, Brown is alleged to have traveled on foot from Cahokia Heights to Waterloo to meet who he believed to be a 13-year-old girl.

Text messages shared at the end of a longer video posted to the OPI YouTube channel indicate Brown had made plans to meet with the decoy – an OPI member posing as the young girl – in Columbia earlier this month but had to cancel.

On Dec. 11, Brown indicated he could have someone drive him to Waterloo and meet at Moto Mart at 11 p.m.

When his ride hadn’t arrived by 10:15 p.m., Brown said he would order an Uber to take him to Waterloo, later stating his intentions to meet the decoy at 9:30 a.m. the next morning, promising he would “start walking now” to make up for missing the Columbia rendezvous. 

The text message thread then indicates Brown left a Taco Bell in Cahokia Heights just after 12:30 a.m. Dec. 12. He added that the Google maps walking directions indicated it would be a nine-hour walk.

Brown apparently arrived at Moto Mart in Waterloo just after 8:45 a.m.

Instead of meeting a 13-year-old girl, Brown was met by Waterloo police, with WPD Sgt. David Midkiff questioning Brown about his intentions to solicit an underage girl for sex before placing him under arrest.  

Brown was also charged with possession of methamphetamine after responding officers discovered drug paraphernalia during the arrest.

Brown pled not guilty during an arraignment Monday afternoon in Monroe County Court. His pretrial release hearing was continued to Jan. 8, pending a psychological evaluation.

Similar to the arrest earlier this month of Nickolas L. Thompson, 32, formerly of O’Fallon, OPI made initial contact with Brown through the “meetme” app, which is marketed as a place to meet and make friends, “chat, flirt… maybe even find a date online!”

All three arrests have involved the WPD and have occurred at Moto Mart, prompting comments on OPI’s Facebook page.

While most comments are supportive of the OPI mission, a few questioned the group’s methods – which could be interpreted as entrapment – while another expressed hesitation about the group repeatedly bringing suspected sexual predators to Waterloo, and the exact same location to boot.

“It honestly makes me a little nervous… luring (potential sex criminals) into the town I live in,” one comment read.

An OPI page administrator responded, calling it a “fair question,” and explaining “St. Clair County sucks and Monroe County doesn’t,” referring to a lack of prosecution in St. Clair County following a similar sting.

The response continued by stating “We don’t ‘lure’ anyone (I know what you mean), but we choose locations that are as secluded from large gatherings as possible.”

This response also addressed the frequency of recent Waterloo arrests.

“We also try to spread out the case load to different areas, so we’re about at that point in Waterloo,” the post stated, indicating OPI may soon be focusing its efforts elsewhere.

The person involved with the recent Waterloo operations offered more insight into the group and its collaboration with similar groups and local law enforcement. 

In an email to the Republic-Times, an individual who asked to be identified as “OPI” explained why Waterloo was a good fit to ensure the arrest and prosecution of alleged predators.

“We know we’re operating in small towns. Given that all of these suspects’ phones are getting seized, the subsequent phone dumps (local police are) having to do can be extremely demanding,” OPI began. 

In addition to the added work on behalf of police, the arrest also creates additional demand on prosecuting attorneys as well as taxpayer expense for court-ordered psychiatric evaluations and other proceedings, including the involvement of the Illinois Department of Corrections Sex Offender Management Board.

“While we appreciate all the work the detectives must have to do on the back end after we hand over our evidence, we’re also realistic and know we can’t just throw 100 cases at them in a month,” OPI continued. “However, sometimes conversations have been going on for a while, like (Brown’s), so we haven’t moved yet into a different area than our last catch.”

The earliest text message shown in the YouTube video is dated Nov. 23, making the time between initial contact and arrest at least three weeks in Brown’s case.

“We go where we are confident that we will see child predators get held accountable legally for their actions,” OPI said, also lauding local police and the Monroe County State’s Attorney’s Office for prosecuting these cases.

Of the 17 similar stings in Illinois that OPI has set up, some with another group referred to as PvP (People vs. Preds), all but one have been charged. 

“PvP has been doing this since summer 2021 and has caught 560 predators leading to 278 arrests and 120 convictions,” OPI wrote. “We have both testified in court several times and take pride in following through with these cases. PvP was the one who decoyed the Andrew Wagner catch, posing as a 14-year-old boy on Grindr. I was the one who decoyed the Nickolas Thompson and Austyn Brown catch(es), posing as a 13-year-old girl.”

OPI also described a less-than-positive reception in Johnston City with the local police chief refusing to work with them.

“After getting detained and put in the back of the cop car, the (Johnston City chief) decided they weren’t going to examine or collect any of our evidence and instead opted to hand off the investigation to the Illinois State Police,” OPI said. “It took about six weeks of me attempting to call ISP Troop 10 until I finally got in touch with an agent with investigations. He told me that ISP typically isn’t willing to work with civilian groups because of the (Internet Crimes Against Children federal, state and local law enforcement task force) protocols.”

A subject who turned himself in to Belleville police almost a year ago has yet to be charged.

“(We) hope that St. Clair County will see the fact that neighboring counties aren’t scared to prosecute these types of cases and that will help get this individual held accountable under the law,” OPI said.

OPI and others appear to have conducted stings throughout the country, with OPI focusing on Illinois recently.

“We appreciate Monroe County prosecuting these individuals after our evidence is presented to them, but we are also realistic and want to allow for a balanced case load of these types,” OPI concluded. “Doesn’t mean we’re leaving, doesn’t mean we’re coming back – just that so far (the WPD) has done a magnificent job of investigating thoroughly after receiving our report of an ongoing crime.”

Brown is scheduled to appear in Monroe County Court on Jan. 8, and Thompson’s next hearing is Dec. 23. Both are currently being held at Monroe County Jail.

Wagner, arrested in late October, was granted pretrial release earlier this month under conditions which require him to adhere to GPS monitoring and observe a daily curfew between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Wagner’s next court appearance is set for Feb. 23.