To Catch A Predator Update: Flint, Michigan

 

     Over the course of just eight hours, four men were busted soliciting minors for sex outside of Flint, Michigan in October 2020. All are still working their way through the court system, where they could and likely will face up to 20 years in prison. They have been indicted, entered pleas of not guilty, and had their trial dates set for this autumn; the cases are now in the discovery process.

1. Thomas Bates, 45, of Corunna, is a single father of a 14-year-old boy. He worked as a maitenance man for the government of Michigan and lost his wife to cancer in 2019. 

2. Michael Lott, 32, of Elsie, was a corrections officer for the state of Michigan who came to watch a girl perform a sex act on herself after a vulgar chat about hardcore intercourse.

3. Shawn O'Brien, 18, of Westphalia, seemed to realize he was in trouble when he cried and told others not to do what he did. Because of the short age gap, he could likely plead down to a lesser charge.

4. Another man, who has not yet been named, drove by during an arrest and was frightened off. He is currently wanted.

     When a miscommunication resulted in Chris Hansen failing to show up to court on July 1st, 2021, a bench warrant for his arrest was briefly issued but was cleared up the following day by Hansen's attorney. The court appearance was set to gather evidence in the case of Lott.