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A Twin Cities-based employee of Immigration and Customs Enforcement is among 16 men arrested on suspicion of soliciting a minor following a sting operation by police in suburban Minneapolis. 

Alexander Steven Back, 41, is among four people charged so far with trying to pay a 17-year-old girl for sex. Back could also face federal charges, Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said at a news conference on Tuesday. 

Authorities said that they’ve submitted evidence against the other 12 men to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for possible charges. 

According to the criminal complaint filed Friday in Hennepin County, Back, of Robbinsdale, responded to a fake online advertisement “offering prostitution services.” 

In a text message to Back on Nov. 13, an undercover officer posing as a 17-year-old girl named Bella wrote “U ok if I’m a lil younger than my ad says … just wanna be honest.”

“K cause I am 17 and one guy got hella mad at me,” the officer replied. 

After stating for a second time that she was 17, “Bella” gave Back an address in Bloomington, where police arrested him and seized his phone. 

Hodges said that his department partnered on “Operation Creep” with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and police from Eden Prairie, Roseville and Richfield, as well as MSP Airport Police. Back is a civilian ICE employee, Hodges said. 

Also charged are Sasenarine Ghamandy, 52, of Prior Lake, Emmanuel Lopez, 29, of Bloomington, and Nicholas Daniel Schaitberger, 36, of Minneapolis. 

In addition to a count of solicitation, Schaitberger is also charged with possessing more than 10 grams of methamphetamine.

The operation this month in Bloomington is similar to a sting in March in which 14 men were arrested, including former Republican state Sen. Justin Eichorn.

Eichorn, 41, who resigned from the Minnesota Legislature after his arrest, was charged federally along with several other men arrested in the earlier sting and has pleaded not guilty. 

The federal charge of attempted enticement of a minor carries a 10-year mandatory minimum prison sentence while the equivalent state charge carries a five-year maximum sentence. Eichorn has argued that the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office has singled him out because he was a public official, but federal prosecutors 

Of the others arrested in the March sting operation, court records show that at least three have pleaded guilty to state charges and two others are expected to enter guilty pleas in Hennepin County Court in the coming weeks. 

Those sentenced include Anthony Steven Lee Mais, 31, of New Richmond, Wis., and Forest Leandrew McElroy, 47, of Burnsville, who each received three years of probation. While they pleaded guilty to a felony, their convictions will be recorded as misdemeanors if they stay out of trouble while on probation. 

By contrast, Alex Misael Huerta-Sanchez, who is the only defendant to have pleaded guilty to federal charges, is expected to be sentenced to the statutory minimum of 10 years in prison.  Huerta-Sanchez, who is not a U.S. citizen, also faces deportation to Mexico after he completes his sentence, according to his plea agreement.

If you encounter a child or adult who may be trafficked, the 

 says to call 911 or law enforcement if anyone is in immediate danger. Otherwise, contact the appropriate 

 at 1-888-373-7888 or text “HELP” to Polaris Project’s BeFree Textline at 233733.

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Matt Sepic

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A Twin Cities-based employee of Immigration and Customs Enforcement is among 16 men arrested on suspicion of soliciting a minor following a sting operation by police in suburban Minneapolis.

Twin Cities ICE employee among 16 arrested in child sex trafficking sting

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