Michigan Teacher Could Face 444 Years Imprisonment After Human Trafficking Arrest

     Things have certainly changed since the days of "To Catch A Predator." No longer can a team of volunteers working in collaboration with law enforcement attract 40 or 50 people to a sting house over the course of a few days via chatrooms. There are far more apps ranging from dating and hookups apps to video games and social networking sites; on top of this, technology has made it more difficult for law enforcement seeking to cut predators off at the pass, before they strike a real child, to catch these men (and women). However, the other result of this is that most of the people who are caught are not simpletons who got desperate. No, virtually all of these arrests are veteran sex offenders who leave a trail of victims. Whether it is through viewing child sexual abuse material, molesting children, or enticing them via the internet, it is all human trafficking, and it is estimated that a single human trafficking arrest can save as many as 25 minor victims.

     My "Phantoms in the Night" series has followed the work of Sheriff Chris Swanson, the man behind the GHOST (Genesee Human Oppression Strike Team) operations that have resulted in the arrests of more than 150 people for human trafficking in just three years. Most of these arrests have been near Flint, Michigan; however, as Chris Hansen of TCAP fame follows Sheriff Swanson along for the journey and his work gets more notice, it has expanded across the state of Michigan and has even made a few arrests outside of the state. (These cases are usually picked up by federal prosecutors.) In his latest announcement of the arrest of 13 men for enticing children online, Sheriff Swanson caught at least two men who are among the worst I have ever seen.

     The first is Todd Barraco. A 44-year-old from Vassar, Michigan, Barraco has never been arrested before. However, his career history makes it pretty clear that this middle-aged man has at least several other victims. Before being busted by Chris Hansen attempting to have sex with a 15-year-old boy as part of a new sex sting that will air on the TruBlu Network but was previewed on Hansen's YouTube channel (with nearly 125,000 views to date), Barraco was a part-time officer in the Vassar Police Department; he has since been fired. From 2001 to 2007, he was a juvenile probation officer for Lapeer County before taking a position as a Marine City police officer. From 2009 to 2014, he was a dean of students at Imlay City Schools; from 2014 to 2015, he was an assistant principal for the Westwood Heights School District; afterward, he worked as the principal for Merrill High School. He resigned from this position in November 2016 to avoid being fired. He was fired from the Akron-Fairgrove position in June 2020 for talking down to female employees and students and generally being an asshole. He sued the district, claiming he was fired "for being a man" (as if no other men work at the district), but his lawsuit was swiftly dismissed. During this time, he also worked at the Oxford and Memphis Police Departments. He received at least two complaints while working at Imlay City Schools and a plethora of complaints while working at Vassar Schools. In each case, his switch from police department to police department matched his switch from district to district. Essentially, he'd stay in one town for a year or two, work simultaneously as a police officer and school employee, get fired or forced to resign, and move to another town in a different part of the state. He was actually slated to join the Detroit Police Department, but they noted his 10 different jobs in the course of 20 years and knew there had to be a reason. This menace brought a bottle of lube, three guns, and a pair of handcuffs to meet a boy but was confronted instead by Chris Hansen, where his entitlement and desire to control others became apparent. He worked as a juvenile probation officer, school administrator, and police officer, which gave him unfettered access to children and vulnerable adults that he could potentially exploit. He has been charged with three felonies carrying up to 44 years in prison and remains in jail while he awaits a trial.

     The second is David Dues, the first arrest announced. An HVAC instructor at Mott Community College as well as a member of his church's security team, Dues, who is 48 years old, was found with images of children and babies engaged in sexual acts and has now been charged with 23 felonies: 11 counts of child sexually abusive activity, 11 counts of using the computer to commit a crime, and one count of accosting a minor for immoral purposes. If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum of 444 years in prison. He's not out of the woods yet, though: cases involving child sexual abuse material are among the most likely to flip to the federal courts, and Sheriff Swanson believes that a man nearly 50 years old and who has a history of viewing CSAM did not just wake up one morning and decide to meet a detective posing as a 15-year-old girl: he likely has other, real-life victims.

     These two men have long histories of misconduct that could, and should, land them in prison for the rest of their lives. While Barraco has so far been charged only with the three felonies most of the men and women Sheriff Swanson catches get charged with, I expect other charges to be pending. He left 10 jobs for a reason, he's shown he has a fixation with control over others, and he is generally very dangerous. Dues has been charged with 23 felonies, but he, too, could have more pending. These men reinforce the aforementioned point that nearly all of the people caught in sex stings, career criminals or prominent members of society, are repeat offenders, the worst of the worst that can be caught. Each arrest is a chance for previous victims to come forward and a victory that makes communities much safer from the unfeeling, impulse-driven crimes of predators, thanks to the work of a unit of phantoms in the night.