Tulsa Man Arrested On Complaint Involving Underage Child

A Tulsa Public Schools employee is arrested in an Internet sex sting. Deputies posing as an underage girl were able to lure the man to Ottawa County Friday night.<br/><br/>News on 6 reporter Joshua Brakhage

Saturday, December 23rd 2006, 4:42 pm

By: News On 6

A Tulsa Public Schools employee is arrested in an Internet sex sting. Deputies posing as an underage girl were able to lure the man to Ottawa County Friday night.

News on 6 reporter Joshua Brakhage talked to the deputy behind the keyboard during the sting.

Undersheriff Bob Ernst told the News on 6 he was chatting with the suspect for just 30 minutes. Only two hours after the conversation started, the man drove up to Miami, and right into deputies' hands.

The Ottawa County sheriff calls Chris Moss a "child predator." Tulsa Public Schools calls him a master craftsman. Moss works for the district's transportation department. He was arrested after deputies say he struck up an illicit conversation with what he thought was an underage girl.

But it wasn't a little girl; it was Undersheriff Bob Ernst. Ernst's performance was enough to convince Chris Moss to get in his truck and drive to Miami where deputies were waiting.

Sheriff Terry Durborow says when Moss pulled up in his truck; he was packing a pornographic video, condoms, and a switchblade. The sheriff says factoring in the explicit exchange, the fact Moss drove up to Miami, and what he had with him when he got there, there's no doubt in his mind he was looking for sex.

"Not in mine. Not a doubt in the world what his intent was," Sheriff Durborow said.

Tulsa and Ottawa County Deputies as well as Tulsa Police searched Moss's Tulsa home. They say they seized two computers, and a large amount of pornography.

Two deputies from Ottawa County have been investigating online predators for two weeks. This is their first arrest, but they say they have many more leads.
"I was amazed when my investigators got online and I saw how many hits they had and how many people they got wanting to talk to them, you know. It's mind-boggling. It really is," Sheriff Durborow said.

All the more reason the sheriff says parents should keep an eye on kids on the Internet.

"Please, please, please be aware where your children are at on the Web and what they're doing and who they're talking to," said Sheriff Durborow.

There's no word from Tulsa Public Schools about what's next for Chris Moss. Cybercrimes detectives will be going through the desktop and laptop computers they found in Moss' house. They'll be looking for child pornography. Investigators say there's so much material there, it could take quite a while to process it all.