The surge in child sexual assault crimes in our area continued yesterday (June 8th).
The Appleton Police Department announced the arrest of 26-year-old DePreist T. McGruder, a previously convicted sex offender who allegedly assaulted another victim.
According to investigators, McGruder met the victim in this case in a public place, falsely claiming to be a 17-year-old boy.
McGruder and the victim, who was said to be under 16 years old, continued to communicate through electronic means, but the victim became suspicious that McGruder was older than he claimed.
This led to the victim contacting the police. McGruder was arrested on charges of Repeated 1st Degree Sexual Assault of the Same Child, Use of a Computer to Facilitate a Child Sex Crime, Child Enticement, Sending Obscene or Sexually Explicit Electronic Messages, Grooming of a Child for Sexual Activity, and for violating his probation.
The Appleton Police Department noted, “At this time, there is no evidence to suggest any other children in the Appleton area were harmed. Because this is an active criminal case, no additional details will be released at this time.”
