Recruiter charged in child prostitution sting

A Navy recruiter in Missouri was arrested March 5 for allegedly paying $80 to have sex with an 11-year-old girl, federal authorities said.

Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class (AW/SW) Shane Childers, 32, was one of four men caught in a sting operation in which undercover agents posted ads online offering to arrange for men to have sex with underage girls, federal court documents show.

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Childers, who was assigned to Recruiting District St. Louis, was wearing his black uniform pants and black dress shoes when he walked up to a house in Kansas City, Mo., and gave an undercover cop $80 cash for a half-hour with a girl he thought was inside the home, according to an affidavit filed in federal court in Missouri.

After his arrest, Childers claimed that he was only there to “save the girl” and get her out of the house, but he later admitted that he wanted to have sex with her, the affidavit said.

On Tuesday, a federal grand jury indicted Childers on three counts of using interstate commerce to entice a minor into prostitution, court records show. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

Childers said he used his Navy computer at his recruiting station in Lenexa, Kan., to respond to the online ad, which advertised “Little girls, available. $young $youngest,” the affidavit said.

The undercover agent sent photos of a 15-year-old girl and an 11-year-old girl. Childers responded that he liked the 11 year old, the affidavit said.

He arranged to meet the girl at a home in Kansas City, where he was arrested, court records show.

Childers was in federal custody at the time of his indictment, court records show.

Childers, a native of Kansas who enlisted in 1997, also served as a recruiter in San Francisco and in Florida, Navy records show.

Childers was removed from recruiting duty and the Navy is cooperating with the investigation, said Lee Buchschacher, a spokesman for Navy Recruiting Command.