By Amanda Andrade-Rhoades - Opposing Views




Millard J. Lonkey Jr., a 62-year-old registered sex offender living in Summerset, Ohio, was arrested in Salt Lake City, Utah, after he allegedly solicited sex from a 9-year-old girl.

Lonkey, who reportedly used the name “Rita36” online, began talking to a detective, who posed as a woman with two daughters ages 2 and 9, in a chatroom on May 20. According to the detective, Lonkey, posing as a woman named "Rita," told him he was into sex with young girls, and asked if "... I wanted to ‘get rid of (my) 9 yr old for a week or so?’”

Lonkey, still posing as "Rita," also asked for details of the child's sexual experience, Fox 13 reported. "Rita" then said her boyfriend “Skip” was a truck driver who could visit the fictional 9-year-old in Salt Lake City via California. The officer reportedly said he would charge “Skip” $100 for two hours and $200 for a night with the child and offered to meet with him at a truck stop.

On June 18, Lonkey went to meet the detective, apparently still under the impression that he was a woman with a daughter. He was immediately arrested and charged with one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual contact with a minor, according to a court document filed on Thursday.

Lonkey is a registered sex offender in New York. According to the state’s Division of Criminal Justice Services, he was convicted in 2000 of "disseminating indecent material to minors.”