Todd Spikes
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| Todd Spikes | |
|---|---|
 File:Todd Spikes 2015 mugshot.jpg Spikes in August 2015 | |
| Born | Todd Monroe Spikes May 1, 1965 |
| 💼 Occupation | Former police officer |
| 👩 Spouse(s) | Divorced |
'Todd Monroe Spikes (May 1, 1965) is an American former Alabama police officer and convicted sex offender. In December 2006, Spikes was arrested after traveling to a sting house thinking he was going to have sex with a 13-year-old girl. He never got to have an interview with Dateline NBCs To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen because Spikes traveled to the sting house after Hansen and the police left, thinking he was not going to come. Spikes showed up to the house with multiple items, including: weapons, magazines, ammunition, bullet-proof vests, and duct tape. In April 2010, Spikes was sentenced to ten years of sex offender probation and was required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Background and online chat
In response to a sexual predator ordinance passed the previous year, the Florida police department orchestrated a sting operation to target online sexual predators. Flagler Beach Police Chief Roger Free explained that his department, consisting of 16 members, was unable to handle the operation alone and therefore sought the assistance of Perverted Justice, an organization that provided decoys who posed as minors and engaged in chat room conversations with suspected online child predators. The State Attorney's Office was also involved in the operation. To aid in the arrests, authorities partnered with Dateline NBC, a news program that rented a house in Flagler Beach and installed cameras to capture footage of the suspects for their television show To Catch a Predator.[1] Over the course of four days in December 2006,[2] police arrested 21 men in the sting. One of the men included 41-year-old Todd Monroe Spikes.[1]
Spikes worked as a police officer in Florala, Alabama.[3][4][5] Spikes used the screen name "luvs2eaturpeach" to engage in a sexually graphic online conversation with someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl named "Lindsay" for almost a month. During their chats, Spikes sent several videos of himself masturbating and told the girl that he could become her mother's boyfriend, move in with them at their home, and engage in sexual activity with both of them. He also expressed a desire to watch the decoy perform sexual acts on another man. Spikes claimed to have quit being a cop to work in a family business. He also admitted to the decoy that his conversations with her were illegal and could land him in prison where he could be killed.[6]
Sting and arrest
Despite initial doubts about Spikes showing up after his online conversation with the decoy, he ultimately drove over 300 miles to Flagler Beach and called the decoy from a payphone after the police and Dateline NBC had left the sting house. Perverted Justice alerted Officer Kevin Pineda of the Flagler Beach Police, who met with other officers back at the sting house. As Spikes drove by, the police spotted him, pulled over his car and took him into custody. When taken out of the vehicle, Spikes informed the officers that he had a loaded snub-nose revolver in his front pocket and was carrying an Alabama police badge. Upon searching his SUV, police officers discovered an array of weapons, including a military assault rifle and 12 gauge shotgun, over 800 rounds of ammunition (including hollow point bullets), duct tape, tarps, a boat anchor, magazines with over thirty bullets each, three cell phones, two bullet-proof vests, video and digital cameras, and pornographic DVDs.[3][4][6][7]
When Chris Hansen, the host of To Catch a Predator, asked Detective Liz Williams if they had literally "dodged a bullet," she responded affirmatively, stating that there was a "guardian angel" looking after them that night. Following Spikes' arrest, Chief Free contacted the police chief of Spikes' department in Florala, Alabama, who informed him that Spikes had just finished his refresher course and was set to rejoin the department. During his interview with Williams, Spikes refused to speak beyond providing his name and address. Following his arrest, Spikes was suspended without pay.[1][4] The next day, a search warrant was executed at Spikes' residence, where deputies seized his computers, more weapons, and large plastic tubs filled with videotapes. After examining Spikes' computers, investigators found nothing relevant except the incriminating chat with the decoy. Spikes' lawyer told Dateline NBC that the weapons were used for his work as a police officer and that he stored them in his car when off duty. However, the police chief of Spikes' department stated that Spikes was not authorized to carry all those weapons on duty and could have stored them at the station if he had asked. Three days after his arrest, Spikes was fired by his chief.[6]
Legal process
Spikes was originally charged with multiple felonies: including attempted lewd or lascivious battery, two counts of lewd or lascivious exhibition, two counts of using a computer to transmit harmful material to a minor, and computer pornography and child exploitation.[6][7][8] In November 2007, Circuit Judge Kim C. Hammond granted Spikes' motion to depose Chris Hansen regarding what he witnessed during the To Catch a Predator sting conducted by Dateline NBC, Perverted Justice, and the Flagler Beach Police Department. The deposition would also allow for questions about any physical evidence or audio/visual recordings made during the sting. However, Hammond's decision limited the scope of Hansen's potential testimony, excluding any information about the setup of the sting or any other news-gathering preparation.[8] In November 2009, it was announced that police in Walton County, Florida intended to pursue legal action against Spikes.[9]
On March 5, 2010 Spikes pleaded no contest to one felony count of lewd and lascivious exhibition by a person 18 years or older to a person less than 16 through a computer; and one felony count of using a computer to solicit a minor.[7] Spikes entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors, which meant that he would not go to prison but would instead serve a 10-year probationary period, following his sentencing on April 20th of that year.[10] Spikes' attorney announced that he would argue against the requirement for Spikes to register as a sexual offender at his client's sentencing.[10] Walton County Circuit Judge Kevin Wells imposed the 10-year sex offender probation sentence on Spikes for the charge of lewd and lascivious exhibition, and a concurrent five-year sentence for the other charge.[7] The judge stated that he would take into consideration the possibility of ending Spikes' probation early after five years.[7] Additionally, Judge Wells mandated that Spikes register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.[2][11]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Treen, Dana (December 13, 2006). "Sexual predators sting nets 21 in Flagler Beach" (PDF). The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "'Dateline' sex offender who was Alabama cop sentenced". Press-Register. April 21, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Moore, Theresa (December 12, 2006). "Cop arrested in online sting". WTSP. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Howell, Bob (December 13, 2006). "Dateline NBC Helps Bust Florala Police Officer". WSFA. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
- ↑ Moore, Theresa (April 3, 2007). "Trapped In Predator Net". The Ledger. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Hansen, Chris (March 6, 2007). "The scariest potential predator". NBC. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Nelson, Stephanie (March 6, 2010). "Former Florala Cop Pleads No Contest To Child Exploitation". Andalusia Star News. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Florida judge grants motion to subpoena 'Dateline' reporter". Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. November 2, 2007. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
- ↑ "Ex-Alabama cop profiled in NBC 'Dateline' sex predator sting to be prosecuted in Panhandle". Press-Register. November 11, 2009. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Report: Man arrested in 'Predator' sting in Flagler reaches deal to avoid prison". Orlando Sentinel. March 5, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
- ↑ "Alabama ex-cop sentenced in child sex sting". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. April 22, 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
This article "Todd Spikes" is from Simple English Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Todd Spikes.
