4 Arrested in Sheriff’s Sting Operation Involving Seekers of Under-Age Girls, Including 2 on Trafficking Charges

The Flagler County Sheriff in cooperation with other agencies in the region arrested four men Saturday and Sunday following a sting operation targeting individuals who sought out what the men allegedly thought were underage girls for sex.

In every case, sheriff’s detectives fabricated profiles and posed as underage girls after luring individuals from dating or sex-oriented sites to private messages. The men in turn arranged to meet the girls at specific locations, where they were met by detectives instead.

Those arrested were Isaiah Jamar Williams, 19, of Palm Coast, Darrin Belle, 31, of Daytona Beach, Joshua Johnson, 40, of Ormond Beach, and Wesley Dingman, 80, of St. Augustine. It isn’t clear why the Sheriff’s Office has not posted their booking information or images at the jail’s website, with the exception of one of them.

All four face second degree felony charges of traveling to meet a minor for sex and third degree felony charges of using a computer to solicit or lure a child and unlawfully using a cell phone. Belle and Dingman face an additional charge of trafficking a child, a life felony, and Belle also originally faced a charge of lewd and lascivious battery on a child, though in both cases it is unclear why the additional charges were listed since the circumstances that led to the arrests are similar to those involving the other two men. (A judge found insufficient probable cause for the lewd and lascivious charge at Belle’s first court appearance.)

Williams, who is being held on $77,500 bond at the Flagler County jail, initially had his contact with what turned out to be an undercover detective on the Boo application (“Meet New People By Personality”) between July 11 and July 14, by which time he’d moved to private texting with the “girl.” He gave his age as 19. “im really young im actually 13,” the undercover detective texted. “i dont want any trouble,” Williams texted back, going on to say it’s scary and telling the “girl” she could put someone in jail. “U still in middle school,” he told her. “I ain’t trying to go to jail.” He tells “her” that if she were four years older, it would be OK.

But by July 13 and 14, Williams had moved on to the possibility of meeting the “girl” and to describing what he would do if he did. “When u think I can swing by,” he texts. “Whenever u want. I have to check my moms schedule and see where he [sic] is working.” He asks for a location, says they could walk on the beach together, and finally agree that he would meet her at a church at 7 p.m. on July 14. “Should i bring anythinf [sic],” the detective texted. “A blanket to lay on a small one,” Williams texted back.

As Williams was making his way to the meeting point, a crime analyst in the Real Time Crime Center was positively identifying him by his phone number and his image on the Boom account. He was met by detectives, who arrested him on Buttermill Drive and took him to the county jail.

Belle is being held on no bond on the trafficking charge and on $90,000 bond on the three other charges. He was arrested outside the Madison Green Apartments after detectives enticed him by a similar method: they’d made a post on skipthegame.com, a hook-up and escort site (“Find and meet service providers anywhere”), with a fabricated profile that listed the name “Callyo,” age 99. (The account was set up by a St. Johns County Sheriff’s detective.) Belle allegedly quickly acknowledged that the person on the other end was 14 when “she” asked if he would wear a condom, and told him that “her” friend hung out on the site and “said its super easy n sometimes fun.” “With the right person lol,” the undercover detective added.

The “girl” told Belle that she was staying in Palm Coast by the theater, meaning Epic Theater, and Belle told her he was on his way. He was arrested at Madison Green Circle and taken to the jail.

Dingman, who was also arrested at Madison Green Circle, is being held on no bond on the trafficking charge and on $100,000 bond on the three other charges. His case followed almost the identical method as Belle’s, starting at the same website, though he appeared to be toying with the fabricated girl first, after learning “her” age. When “she” told him that she was 14 and didn’t want to get “preggoos at 14 lol,” he wrote: “I could not get you.” The detective texted back: “okie sryyy” with a sad face emojie, only for Dingman to continue his thought: “Pregnant as I have had a vasectomy!!! Where are your parents in all of this???” The detective texts that “she” is staying with her cousin who “works alllllll the time.”

Then they talk business: “What is your fee?” he asks. “depends on what all u wanted,” comes the reply. They settle on an hour, a couple of specified acts, and “she” gives $70 as a price, with a condom. He says he’ll pay $200, early afternoon the next day, as he gets quite a bit more graphic with his intentions. The detective, who knows wryness, promises: “ill try n make u happy silly,” with a smiley face.

On the way to the agreed-upon location, Dingman stopped at an ATM and got $200, and stopped at a convenience store for the condoms and “a sexually enhancing drug,” according to his arrest report. He was taken to the county jail.