Online teen sex sting snares third man

Aug 17, 2007

A Campbell County grand jury has indicted another man on a charge he came to Northern Kentucky with the intention of having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Randy K. Stone, 44, of Almo in Western Kentucky, was indicted Thursday on a charge of attempted unlawful transaction with a minor.

Stone was talking to a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl, but in reality was an adult male working for the TV program "Perverted Justice," on behalf of Kentucky authorities.

In April, a dozen men were arrested in the highly publicized sting. But Stone continued to converse online with the "girl," and agreed to meet her in July, said Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Michelle Snodgrass.

He was arrested at the same Highland Heights house as the other men, Snodgrass said.

Six men ensnared in the sting have pleaded guilty in federal court, and three others have admitted to charges in Campbell County Circuit Court.

Two defendants have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

David Quist, 46, of Fort Thomas, is scheduled to stand trial in Campbell Circuit Court in October on a charge of attempted unlawful transaction with a minor.

Paul Westwood, 45, of Monroe, Ohio, is set to stand trial Oct. 22 in U.S. District Court in Covington on a charge of crossing state lines for illicit sexual conduct.