Five people, including a teacher, were arrested and charged with attempting to sex traffic a child at a hotel in Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announced.
The people now in federal custody have been identified as 46-year-old Stacey Ray Lancaster of Hudson, NH; 42-year-old Arthur Picanco, of Bradford, Massachusetts; 38-year-old Ozeias Luiz Guilherme, of Haverhill, Massachusetts; 23-year-old Sharath Chandra Bollu, 23, of Chelmsford, Massachusetts; and Koteshwara Raju Jonnagodda, 24, of Chelmsford, and Lowell, Massachusetts.
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All five are expected to appear in federal court on Monday. It wasn't immediately clear if any had obtained attorneys who could speak to the charges.
Lancaster is a West High School teacher in Manchester, he oversees the school's Naval Junior ROTC program and serves as a liaison between the U.S. Navy and the school district, according to the Superintendent of Manchester's School District, Jennifer Chmiel.
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"These are serious and disturbing charges, and we are aware that Mr. Lancaster is in law enforcement custody," Chmiel said in a statement. "Mr. Lancaster has been placed on administrative leave, and the District is working closely with law enforcement agencies assigned to this case."
"Unfortunately, we do not have further information to provide at this time," Chmiel added.
According to prosecutors, on Thursday and Friday of last week, law enforcement agents posted and monitored an advertisement on a website commonly known to advertise commercial sex acts. The ad contained images of what appeared to be two minor females, and a contact phone number. Authorities used the phone number to communicate with potential sex buyers. Each defendant responded to the advertisement, and once at the hotel, met with an undercover agent and attempted to sex traffic one of the two fictitious children.
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The investigation was led by Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from Manchester Police, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, and the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
