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Nine arrested in child sex undercover operation

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The Maui News

Seven Maui residents and two people from out-of-state were arrested recently in conjunction with "Operation Keiki Shield 17" held from April 14 to 16 on Maui.

Law enforcement officers from around the state conducted the operation which resulted in nine individuals arrested and charged after soliciting what they believed to be children for sex and then taking substantial steps to meet up with those "minors" for the purpose of engaging in criminal sexual acts with them.

Instead of minors, the offenders were actually met and arrested by law enforcement officers, a news release said.

Police said all nine offenders had bail set at $100,000.

Those arrested were Lawrence Turno, 29, of Lahaina and Tyler Chaco, 19, of Kihei, who were both later charged with commercial sexual exploitation of a minor.

Also arrested were David Wilbur, 45, of Makawao; Andrei Dogar, 60, of Peoria, Ariz. (non-U.S. citizen); Miguel Alfredo Aquino-Martinez, 28, of Los Angeles (non-U.S. citizen); Eulalio Hufalar, 48, of Lahaina and William Bodelson, 74, Kihei, who were all charged with first-degree electronic enticement of a child.

Timothy Crowley Esty, 62, of Kula was arrested and charged for commercial sexual exploitation of a minor, promoting pornography for minors and second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug.

Marc Siegel, 45, of Hana was arrested and charged for first-degree electronic enticement of a child and promoting pornography for minors.

Operation Keiki Shield is an ongoing operation to identify, locate, and arrest offenders who commit Internet-facilitated sexual crimes against children and to identify and rescue child victims of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

The operation is under the overall blanket of the State of Hawaii Department of the Attorney General, Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Taskforce, and includes officers and agents from local, state, and federal law enforcement.

Operation Keiki Shield 17 was hosted by the Maui Police Department and included officers and agents from the Maui Police Department, the Department of the Attorney General, the ICAC Taskforce, the Honolulu Police Department, the Kauai Police Department, the Hawaii County Police Department, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

All cases are being referred to Maui County's Department of the Prosecuting Attorney for review, with additional referrals of some cases made to federal law enforcement agencies for review of violations of federal law.

Additional violations of multiple Hawaii statutes by other suspects identified during this operation remain under investigation.

Since the first iteration of Operation Keiki Shield on Maui in March of 2020, 35 suspects have been arrested on Maui.

Starting at /week.