GREENVILLE, Mich. — Court documents are revealing more information about how Montcalm County deputies arrested a man who was allegedly attempting to meet two teen girls to have sexual intercourse with them.
Luke Elijah Hoekstra, 22, of Grand Rapids, was arrested July 31 and charged with accosting a child for immoral purposes. He was also charged with using a computer to commit a crime.
Probable cause documents obtained by 13 ON YOUR SIDE say that a team with the Montcalm County Sheriff's Office was stationed at the AmericInn Hotel in Greenville, where they would pose as teenage boys and girls and chat online with potential suspects.
Authorities posed as two 15-year-old girls and began talking with Hoekstra after he reached out. The conversation turned sexual and Hoekstra agreed to meet with the girls. He asked how old they were and they confirmed multiple times that they were 15.
The documents say Hoekstra declined to meet several times due to their age, even asking, "Are you all part of a sting?"
He eventually decided to come to the hotel room, where he was arrested.
The sheriff's office said that Hoekstra's arrest was a result of ongoing operations involving several agencies to help combat what they described as a human trafficking "epidemic" in America.
Hoekstra has been arraigned.
