WILLIAMSON CO. (WSIL) � Eight men face federal charges for trying to have sex with children in Williamson County.
The men were all arrested in July and formally indicted Tuesday as part of a nationwide effort to combat child sex trafficking.
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Chat logs obtained by News 3 show all eight of the men interacted with decoys planted by the FBI on dating apps.
A couple of the men, Jorge Luis Leal, 34, of Herrin and James Michael Davis, 63, of St. Louis, Mo., used Grindr in an attempt to meet with a 15-year-old boy in Herrin.
The others, Lawrence Bangs, 49, of Herrin; Jesse Cantu, 42, of Mt. Vernon; Bret Feldscher, 27, of Herrin; Hank Yoast, 46, of Herrin; Rick Garner, 43, of Sesser; and Neal Keane, 28, of Tuscon, Az., used "Meet Me" in an effort to meet with a 15-year-old girl.
Some of them were reluctant to meet with a child initially, but still tried to go through with it.
"Some girls like older but sorry I’m not looking for prison time," Feldscher allegedly said, according to the chat logs provided in court documents, but less than a minute later he asked for a picture and the conversation became more sexual after that.
Yoast initially said he wanted to meet the girl as a friend, but the conversation quickly turned sexual.
"Is it weird that I kinda still want you as more?" Yoast asked, according to the chat logs.
The men are either being held without bond or they were released under strict conditions, including electronic monitoring, until their next court date.
