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Decoy Project Leads to Predator Arrest | Dayton News
A 53-year-old Ohio man was arrested after an online sting operation run by The Decoy Project, a nonprofit that uses decoys to catch child predators. The suspect, Patrick N. Smith, contacted a decoy pretending to be a 13-year-old in May 2026, then tried to move the conversation to a private app. The Decoy Project alerted authorities in June, providing chat logs and voice recordings. Smith was arrested in July and faces criminal charges. This is the 15th arrest linked to The Decoy Project’s work in under a year — they’ve reported over 80 suspects and are currently tracking 47 cases. Each arrest…
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