HAMILTON — Ravalli County Sheriff Steve Holton said that eight adult males have been arrested in a child sex trafficking operation in Ravalli County.
In a release, Sheriff Holton said the operation, which took place over three days this week, resulted in the arrests of the men on charges including Sexual Abuse of Children in violation of 45-5-625 MCA and Prostitution of a Child (patronizing a child prostitute) in violation of 45-5-601 MCA.
“We conducted this investigation to identify suspects in our area that would victimize children and remove them from our communities," said Sheriff Holton. "With the full support of Ravalli County Attorney Bill Fulbright and his Office, we want to send the message that people who want to commit these horrible crimes against our kids will be arrested and prosecuted in Ravalli County”.
Holton said the investigation would not have been feasible without the training, support and experience of The Valor Coalition and partners in the Missoula County and Cascade County Sheriff’s Offices.
“I’m extremely proud of the men and women of the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office," Holton added. "They carried out this operation with the utmost professionalism. These cases are just examples of the long hours and tireless work they do every day to keep our community safe. I want to thank Detective Sergeant Jeremy Reichert for putting in the work to pull an operation of this magnitude off successfully, and being the Incident Commander throughout."
Sheriff Holton also thanked Valor Coalition, County Attorney Bill Fulbright, Chief Deputy Attorney Angela Auch, District Court Judge Jennifer Lint, Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter, and Missoula County Sheriff Jeremiah Peterson for their commitment to removing child predators from communities and protecting our kids.
The suspects arrested:
50-year-old Russell David Ashman of Hamilton Sexual Abuse of Children
19-year-old Isaac Shay Floyd of Missoula Sexual Abuse of Children
65-year-old David Joseph Kron of Missoula Prostitution – Child
70-year-old Dale Brian Cramm of Missoula Prostitution – Child
38-year-old Bryan Byangton of Kalispell Prostitution – Child
47-year-old Terry M. Erickson of Alberton Prostitution – Child
57-year-old Robert Joseph Orwig of Pablo Prostitution – Child
67-year-old Tracy Glenn Buckingham of Bonner Prostitution – Child
