GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Aaron Russell, 19, pleaded guilty on Thursday to accosting a minor immoral purposes. He's the youngest of seven suspects accused of soliciting sex from who they thought was a 15-year-old girl online. They face 2 years in prison.
Instead of meeting up with an underage girl, they met a 23-year-old man in Grand Rapids who confronted each of them, recorded video of the whole thing, and then turned over his evidence to police. That man later posted the exchanges on his you-tube channel and web site— AnxietyWar.com. Investigators say they don’t condone or advise the public to take up this type of vigilante justice and urge them to let the police handle the investigations.
Today, Russell stood before the judge and answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to all the questions, but he declined to comment on camera.
Meantime, FOX 17 is learning more about another of those suspects, Jered Andrus. We’re told Andrus is a former coach for the Jenison Cub Football team. According to the organization, Andrus spent three years there as a coach and left two years ago when his son aged out of the system.
The organization put a statement out of their own today on Facebook and stated they are saddened by the news. The group ensured parents it runs background checks on all the teams’ coaches and volunteers.
All of the men charged in this case are at various stages of the court process. Aaron Russell is due back in court June 6th for his sentencing.
