OAKLAND COUNTY (WWJ) - A 33-year-old ex-sheriff's deputy was arraigned Saturday morning for soliciting sex from who he thought was an underage girl, officials said.
The Oakland County Sheriff's Office said Jared Salisbury was charged with one count of accosting a child for immoral purposes, a four year felony.
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard confirmed back in September that the deputy with the Oakland County Jail was fired from the force after allegations of wrongdoing surfaced.
Bouchard said the former deputy was talking to someone online who was "presenting themselves as 15-years-old" and called the post "poor judgement."
“Any behavior that targets young people is deplorable and anyone who does should be held to account for their actions,” Bouchard said on Saturday.
The allegations against Salisbury began on September 6, after a Pontiac resident posted a chat of the former deputy attempting to meet up with who he thought was a 15-year-old girl.
Only, the 15-year-old girl was self-proclaimed vigilante, Robert Lee, who works to catch child predators by pretending to be a teenage girl online.
Lee told FOX 2 last month that he downloaded the Whisper app and had been posing as an underage girl for only a few months before he started catching dozens of alleged predators.
Soon, his fake profile caught the attention of Salisbury, who Lee said began to have sexually explicit conversations with him even after Lee stated several times he was an underage teen.
"If they continue to talk after that, then they’re basically a predator," Lee said to FOX 2.
The 33-year-old allegedly sent a photo of himself to Lee and asked what Lee charged for sexual services as the conversation escalated.
Lee did not arrange to met the deputy, but instead posted their conversation on social media, as he has done with those he has previously caught.
"He stopped replying and then he tried to tell me someone else was using his picture and stuff," Lee said.
The sheriff's office confirmed they were made aware of the post and "detectives quickly linked the social media chat to Salisbury."
According to deputies, Salisbury served as probationary Deputy employed by the Sheriff’s Office for five months. He was assigned to the midnight shift in the Oakland County Jail.
The ex-deputy was fired after the allegations came to light -- the sheriff's office said Salisbury was still within his probationary period, which lasts up to one year for new hires.
He was arrested on Friday around 11 a.m. at his home in Waterford Township.
The sheriff's office said Salisbury was given a $25,000 personal bond set by the judge at the 52-1 District Court on Saturday, which he posted.
The judge also ordered Salisbury to have no contact with minor children and is not to use a computer or the internet.
He is due back in court on Oct. 11 for a probably cause conference.