Published: May 20, 2008 11:54 am      

Fort Ashby man arrested in Internet predator sting

ROMNEY - A 26-year-old Fort Ashby man was arrested early Sunday on charges of solicitation of a minor via the computer following a sting operation by the Hampshire County Sheriff's Office.

Michael Dean Carman was taken into custody about 2:20 a.m. in a school parking lot in Romney, according to the sheriff's office. Deputies said Carman came to the school to meet who he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

Carman had allegedly set up a profile on MySpace pretending to be a 16-year-old girl so he could make friends with underage females, police said. It was there that he met Deputy Wes Frame, who was posing as a 14-year-old girl. After making contact online and then on the phone with a female sheriff's office decoy, Carman agreed to meet at the Romney school parking lot.

Carman was taken into custody by sheriff's deputies along with the assistance of West Virginia State Police and the Romney City Police Department as he pulled his vehicle up to the female sheriff's office decoy. Police said they found condoms and a digital camera in the suspect's vehicle.

Carman remained jailed Monday at the Potomac Highlands Regional Jail in Augusta on $50,000 bond.