Army soldier, undocumented immigrants among men busted trying to meet Michigan teens for sex
GENESEE COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - Eight men, including an Army solider on leave for holiday break and two men not supposed to be in the United States, are in custody after a Genesee County sex crimes bust.
The Genesee Human Oppression Strike Team (GHOST) targets suspects preying on children. In its first bust of the year, GHOST agents arrested numerous men who were planning to meet teens for sex.
The backstory:
Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson said the arrests are the result of multiple operations that started as far back as last August.
The men thought they were talking to the potential victims, but they were actually messaging authorities about their plans. When they went to meet the minors, they were met with handcuffs.
"We had one individual that was chatting with us for over five hours before he came here. His wife is a teacher, and he had a baby at home, and here he is spending five hours of his time trying to exploit a child," Swanson said.
Men try to meet teens for sex
The Suspects:
One of the suspects is an active duty solider currently stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. According to Swanson, Kyle Horiski, 22, was headed to Michigan for the holidays when he allegedly started looking for sex workers. At one point, he allegedly agreed to meet a 15-year-old for sex.
Swanson said he had bulletproof vests and ammunition in his vehicle.

Kyle Horiski
Two of the men arrested are undocumented immigrants from Honduras – Marvin Estrada Sarmiento and Winfredo Osorto Maradiage.
According to Swanson, Sarmiento, 36, was planning to pay a 15-year-old $60 for oral sex.
He was sent to Mexico under Title 42 expulsions in 2021. When he was busted, he was working as a carpet layer in Burton, and his wife lives in Flint.

Marvin Estrada Sarmiento
Maradiage, 46, allegedly had plans to pay a 15-year-old $50 for oral sex.
Swanson said Sarmiento was scared of being sent back to Honduras, while Maradiage said authorities could just send him back.

Winfredo Osorto Maradiage
Another suspect, 38-year-old Jordan Henry, of Lapeer, allegedly told authorities that he did not believe the girl he was trying to meet was 15, based on her photo. He said he wasn't going to pay for sex - he was going to make a donation.
Henry works as a welder. He's married and has two children.

Jordan Henry
Milan Mikho, 25, a full-time student from Macomb, is accused of trying to pay a 15-year-old $150 for sex.

Milan Mikho
Justin Keeler, 33, allegedly brought a chocolate bar and Faygo pop with him when he came to meet a girl he met on an app for sex. However, he said he changed his mind after he walked into where he was supposed to meet the victim.
Swanson said it was the second time in the same day that he had tried to do so with a minor.

Justin Keeler
One of the men, 31-year-old Kendall Dunbar, was on parole when he allegedly tried to meet with a 15-year-old he had been talking to. Swanson said Dunbar admitted that he knew he was talking to a teen, and said he could not go through with having sex with them because he knew it was wrong.

Kendall Dunbar
While most of the suspects were arrested for attempting to have sex with children, at least one of the men actually acted on his plans.
Brian McCarrick, 32, from Bay City, is accused of giving a 13-year-old girl a cell phone so she could talk to him. He groomed the girl, sent her nude photos, and would have sex with her in an empty building after helping her sneak out of her home, Swanson said.

Brian McCarrick
Why you should care:
Swanson said crimes like these impact more than just children.
"This doesn’t impact just underage children, this impacts anyone that is vulnerable. There are a lot of folks that have a story to tell, but they just don’t know where to go, or they don’t think someone is going to believe them, or they think someone will think they had someone to do with it," he said.
The sheriff is encouraging parents to talk with their children about these types of predators.
"Parents have to have these conversations with their children, you have to make them comfortable so they can tell you that this happened and say it made me nervous or made me uncomfortable," Swanson said.
By the numbers:
Since GHOST started in 2018, operations have been held in more than 50 Michigan counties.
The team's investigations have led to 223 arrests.
The Source: Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson provided the details in this story.