Two Cayuga County men were arrested last week for allegedly seeking sex with minors.聽
A sting operation involving several law enforcement agencies led to the arrest of聽Troy S. Bullock, 45, of Auburn, and Jeremy Soutar, 45, of Weedsport, according to a joint news release. Each was charged with聽the Class E felony of second-degree attempted rape for allegedly attempting to engage in sexual acts with a child younger than 15.
Troy S. Bullock
Jeremy Soutar
Soutar was also charged with聽the sexually motivated felony of first-degree attempted disseminating indecent material to minors. He is currently on parole and a Level 3 sex offender.
The sting involved the Cayuga County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, New York State Police, the Finger Lakes Drug Task Force, the Cayuga County District Attorney's Office and the FBI, and took place from June 18 to June 20. The New York State Division of Parole also assisted with Soutar's arrest. Bullock was arraigned at Cayuga County's CAP court and released on $2,500 bail.
鈥淚 would like to thank our partner agencies and commend their members that were involved in this detail, as well as the men and women of our sheriff鈥檚 office, for identifying these individuals and making these arrests," Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck said in the news release. "Those that intentionally victimize children, especially those that are released on parole after previously doing so, should not be on our streets. We will continue to aggressively work to identify child predators in our community and hold them accountable."
Anyone with more information about the investigation is asked to contact the sheriff's office's Criminal Investigations Division at (315) 253-1132. Tips can be left at .
The Justice Department Inspector General has released a harshly critical report about the FBI's handling of investigations into allegations of child exploitation. And this report identifies multiple ways in which the FBI is continuing to fall short in these types of investigations.
Staff writer Kelly Rocheleau can be reached at (315) 282-2243 or kelly.rocheleau@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @KellyRocheleau.