Citizens group sting leads to arrest of Geronimo man for online contact with ‘teen’

A Geronimo man is in jail after law enforcement was notified by a civilian group that works to get potential predators off the streets.

Ricky Lynn Spriggs, 64, made his initial appearance Tuesday in Comanche County District Court where he received felony charges of lewd or indecent proposals to a child under 16 and soliciting sexual conduct or communications with a minor by use of technology, records indicate. The lewd proposals charge is punishable by between three to 20 years in prison.

Members of Oklahoma Predator Prevention, Russell Goodwin, Bradley Bennett and Ryan Kock, went to Spriggs’ home in Geronimo on May 22 where they confronted Spriggs with his online communications with what he thought was a 15-year-old boy named Bryce. They also called the Comanche County Sheriff’s Department and when a deputy arrived turned over pages of explicit conversations and photos between Spriggs and the person he thought was the teen beginning on May 13.

The discussion with Spriggs was captured on a Facebook livestream. Spriggs said the conversations were purely “fantasy” and that it would “never happen” in real life.

At one point in the video, Spriggs tells the Oklahoma Predator Prevention crew, “I’m guilty of whatever you’re telling me.”

Deputy Ashley Keithley spoke with Spriggs who said there was no use in lying about any of it, the probable cause affidavit states. Spriggs retrieved his cellphone from the home and told the deputy he’d already deleted everything from his phone and said, “I know I messed up,” Keithley stated.

Oklahoma Predator Prevention is a volunteer organization begun in 2018 by Goodwin and Jeremy Thomas. It describes itself as a volunteer operation that uses technology and online platforms to talk to potential predators with decoys and, after gathering evidence, turn them over to law enforcement when they try to meet up with underage victims.

In the livestream with Spriggs, the members said it was their first operation in Comanche County.

Held on a $40,000 bond with the condition he have no internet access, Spriggs returns to court at 4 p.m. Sept. 6 for his preliminary hearing, records indicate.