Whitmore Lake cross country coach accused of soliciting teen sex online
Whitmore Lake's high school and middle school cross country coach is accused of soliciting an undercover officer he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, several media outlets reported.
Larry James Bostwick Jr., 37, was arraigned in the 41-B District Court in Clinton Township on one charge of child sexually abusive activity, two charges of using a computer in the commission of a crime and one count of accosting a child for immoral purposes, according to the Detroit Free Press.
If convicted on all counts, he faces up to 44 years in prison. His bond was set at $200,000.
Police told the Detroit News that Bostwick was chatting on the Internet with an undercover officer posing as a teenage girl. Bostwick allegedly made plans to meet with the teen at a location in Macomb County to have sex and was arrested when he arrived Friday.
Whitmore Lake Superintendent Kim Hart told Fox 2 Detroit that this was his second full year of coaching, but he spent two years before that volunteering.
"We took immediate steps to notify our parents and to notify our cross country students that this had occurred and to cut off all options for him to be anywhere near our students," she told the TV station.
Watch the Fox 2 report:
Whitmore Lake Coach Larry Bostwick, Junior Accused of Soliciting Teen Sex Online: MyFoxDETROIT.com
More coverage:
- Fox 2 Detroit: Whitmore Lake Coach Larry Bostwick, Junior Accused of Soliciting Teen Sex Online
- Detroit Free Press: Brighton man charged with Internet sex crime
- Detroit News: Cops say Brighton man sought sex with girl
- WHMI radio: Brighton Man Arrested For Trying To Arrange Online Sex With Teen
Comments
Daniel White
Fri, Jan 14, 2011 : 12:12 p.m.
@Lumberg, It is pretty obvious to me that the potential victim is the next 14 year old in the chat room that the perp was not talking to because he was talking to the cop. By the way, anyone see Boondock Saints? just a thought
zip the cat
Thu, Jan 13, 2011 : 9:12 p.m.
Try reading your previous comment,(malorie). My comment was directed to the guy in question,no one else,pretty obvious to most
M.
Thu, Jan 13, 2011 : 7 p.m.
zip the cat, try reading my previous comment. please believe that real girls do meet these creeps, for a number of reasons, including that the men often lie about their age and other things about themselves and groom the girl online prior to attempting a real-life meet up.
zip the cat
Thu, Jan 13, 2011 : 3:59 p.m.
WOW,talk about dumb and dumber. Hey dude,how mnay 14 yr old girls are out looking for a 37 yr old guy. ZERO
stunhsif
Thu, Jan 13, 2011 : 8:42 a.m.
Mr. Bostwick, only 4 years in age seperated you from legal activity versus illegal activity. At your age why not try and date someone legally age 18 or older?
RJA
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 : 11:40 p.m.
This coach should know better, but with the same token it is not all about him. I know 3 girls between the ages of 13 and 16 that have actually met guys like this on the internet. The guys were 20 and 21. What happened was mutual. The 13 yr. old was doing this on the internet, (out of state) Her mother didn't have time to watch her. When she wisited with her grandpa, using his computer he caught her. Needless to say it was reported to her mom, she no longer has a computer nor access to one. I am happy that this coach was caught by an under-cover officer. Good Job, Officer!! I hope now that more parents will check on their children while on their computers.
GrandmaD
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 : 8:37 p.m.
@Jeanarrett...he did coach middle school cross country this year. I am happy to say that the young people who I've talked to mention that he never approached them inappropriately, for which we should all be thankful.
Soothslayer
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 : 5:35 p.m.
These are just the ones who are caught folks. Probably 2% at most of the actual perps.
dexterreader
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 : 4:52 p.m.
I've never been able to figure these things out either... lives and careers ruined for dumb reasons.
Bob Needham
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 : 4:49 p.m.
(off-topic comments removed)
lumberg48108
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 : 3:32 p.m.
@smart I just dont think its the same thing as murder for hire! They is no victim or potential victim - she was conjured by the police and one could make the case if she (police) was not flirting with him, he would not have asked to meet with her... I just think we need to be careful about virtual crimes... as far as a deterent - what proof is there this is a deterent - otherwise there would be no stories like this and Dateline NBC would have no programming!
chapmaja
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 : 3:05 p.m.
This story is really really disturbing to me on several levels. First, the actions are very disturbing that he would arrange a meeting and then show up. Second, I have known this man for several years and never would have thought of him as this type of person. I feel terrible for his daughter and son who have to deal with this mess.
alan
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 : 2:58 p.m.
@smart I don't think it's quite the same. In the situation you state, there is a real potential victim. In this case there isn't. I've pondered this issue myself and still haven't decided. Criminal stupidity might be a fitting charge.
Killroy
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 : 2:41 p.m.
What is wrong with people? He ruined his life doing something so, so, so stupid. My goodness!
M.
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 : 2:31 p.m.
Great comment tracyann. Tom Joad - You'd be surprised. Most of these guys don't tell their real age either and often share fake photos. When I was 13 I agreed to meet a nice looking 17 year old I met online...it's a long story but thankfully he didn't do anything, though my parents got the police involved who found out he was somewhere around 25, not 17, and had several aliases. Teenaged girls, from my own experience, often find their male peers to be immature and are attracted to older "more mature" men. Now that I'm an adult I can understand the danger I put myself in, and how creepy the guy was, but at the time I just felt flattered that an older guy would be interested in me. So please believe many teen girls are tricked into it, and many of them also meet willingly because they cannot comprehend anything wrong with it.
tracyann
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 : 2:01 p.m.
To go off of what others have said, these stories are on the news constantly and how long was To Catch A Predator on the air? The mere fact that this kind of thing goes on after all that exposure to the problem shows that these people have something wrong upstairs. There's no "rehabilitation" for those who are turned on by children. I don't care if it's a sting or not, if an "actual" crime was committed or not. There was intent and with any luck there will be one less pervert out on the street.
jeanarrett
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 : 1:51 p.m.
He was the high school cross country coach. I don't believe the middle school even has a cross country team.
Smart
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 : 1:43 p.m.
Lumberg, this is the same thing as an undercover agent taking money to kill his or her spouse. "No crime happened and no real victim exists." However the intent to commit a crime happened and it helps deter an actual crime from happening.
Tom Joad
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 : 1:18 p.m.
Think about it...how many teenage girls are interested in hooking up with some strange creep on the internet? These are 100% of the time police traps. And men fall for it every day...
lumberg48108
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 : 1:15 p.m.
There is a part of me that worries about these "crimes" being prosecuted since no actual crime happened and no victim exists (therefore how is there a crime?) - the courts have accepted it but I have not yet fully having said that, dude, you are 37 and you think a 14 year old girl who lives 90 minutes away wants to meet you for sex and YOU COME TO HER? These stings are more like IQ tests - and they fail so lock'em up
John of Saline
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 : 1:11 p.m.
OK, seriously, these kinds of stories turn up almost daily. You'd think the creeps would learn that on-line 14-year-old girls willing to hook up with them are most likely police.
Ignatz
Wed, Jan 12, 2011 : 12:52 p.m.
That guy looks way too much like a recently retired NFL quaterback who, coincidentally, got into some hot water over his use of electronic devices.