An arrest warrant issued Friday for a Lawton man accused of soliciting who he thought was an 11-year-old girl for sex.
Instead, he was speaking with an online child predator vigilante group who turned him into the law.
The Comanche County District Court issued a felony arrest warrant for Thompson J. Williams-Pope, 26, for charges of lewd or indecent proposals to a child under 16 and violation of an Oklahoma State statute via computer, records indicate. The lewd proposals charge is punishable by between three and 20 years in prison.
Lawton police were called Aug. 4 to a home and met with Alex Rosen, a founding member of a group called Predator Poachers, an independent group of citizens who expose child predators by setting up fake online profile depicting children, stated Detective Melanie Powers. On this profile, they’d acted as an 11-year-old girl and messages were turned over to investigators.
On May 29, Williams-Pope messaged the profile and after the “girl” said she was 11, he responded with “my bad,” the warrant affidavit states. He continued to communicate with the “girl” and the next day he told her how “beautiful” she was. Powers stated the conversation “escalated quickly” with him “grooming the female by telling her that he loved her, missed her and was going to buy her gifts.”
On June 2, Williams-Pope and the girl said they both lived in Lawton. The two communicated daily from May 29 until Aug. 3 and during that time, he told the “girl” he wanted to touch her all over, have sex with her, asked for naked pictures, told her he wanted to marry her and have kids with her and that he wanted to meet her, according to the affidavit. They each sent photos of their faces.
On Aug. 2, the “girl” said her mother would be gone Aug. 4 and gave Williams-Pope an address to meet her. When he arrived, Lawton police had been called after he spoke with the Predator Poachers and admitted he’d intended to have oral sex with the “girl,” the affidavit states. The incident was recorded and given to investigators.
A $200,000 cash warrant bond was issued upon Williams-Pope’s arrest.
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