The Dawson County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia arrested nine men during a three-day sting using Grindr in what they claim is a “drugs for sex” operation.
Sgt. W. Dereck Johnson – who identified himself on Grindr as “Charlie[looking for]420” – initiated a conversation about sex and offered to host at a Quality Inn & Suites on Beartooth Parkway in Dawsonville.
When the man said he had marijuana, Johnson replied, “U share?” The man said he would. Johnson also offered to supply papers to smoke the marijuana.
“I want to get high and fuck,” Johnson wrote.
Johnson told a local magistrate court judge a different story according to a March 4 warrant for the suspect’s arrest.
“[The suspect] did solicit SSGT D. Johnson to perform an act of prostitution in exchange for marijuana,” Johnson wrote in the warrant.
The man was charged with misdemeanor pandering, possession of less than one ounce of marijuana and criminal attempt.
In all nine men were arrested during the sting using GRINDR over three day and charges ranged from misdemeanors – including pandering, obstruction and marijuana possession – to felonies, including criminal attempt to distribute marijuana and methamphetamine and use of a communication device to facilitate a felony. The men arrested ranged in age from 23 to 50 years old.
Sources report that all the men’s mugshots and places of business were published in a local media outlet.
Greg Nevins, senior counsel at Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office in Atlanta, said the pandering charge is baseless. This type of arrest harkens back to other instances of law enforcement targeting gay men.
Dawsonville is located about 60 miles northeast of Atlanta.
Source: Project Q