Suspected Online Predator Arrested at Portland Airport

Police say the man was persistent, continuing to send emails to a detective posing as a teen girl in a chatroom, after a joint police investigation ended.

(PORTLAND) - Several federal and local agencies worked together over the past weekend targeting on-line predators. Clackamas County Sheriff's Office Spokesman Jim Strovink says the mission, titled "Operation Cyber Sting 2007", was headed up by the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office and included partners from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Tigard Police Department, Washington County Sheriff's Office, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, the Oregon State Police, and Canby Police Department.

Civilian volunteers assisted with the mission by posing as decoys along with law enforcement personnel.

Strovink says over a three day period, trained on-line "Chatters" From the different agencies explored various chat rooms on the internet. With current research showing that 1 in 5 children between 10 and 17 years old are reporting being approached and sexually solicited online, investigators say it was no surprise that the alleged predators moved quickly and aggressively.

The first arrest was made within a couple of hours of the beginning of the operation when Allan Grabinski showed up at the decoy house expecting to meet a 13 year girl who was actually a Multnomah Sheriff's Detective named Paul Farnstrom.

The chats didn't stop there, Strovink says, and the alleged sexual predators kept coming over to the decoy house resulting in 6 arrests over the three day period.

James Schipper showed up to the house after driving from Klamath Falls. Schipper had been chatting with a Multnomah Detective Sergeant named Travis Gullberg since November 2006 when a similar interagency operation was conducted.

At around midnight on the last day, during the last hour of the operation, one more potential predator struck up a conversation with Sgt. Gullberg. The chat became sexual very quickly, but knowing he didn't have the resources to continue the investigation through to morning Sgt. Gullberg cut the chat short.

The alleged predator was persistent, however, and continued to send messages to Sgt. Gullberg over the rest of the weekend. Sgt. Gullberg even explained to the alleged predator that it was against the law for a 13 year old girl to have sex with an adult, but to no avail as the alleged predator continued to "groom" what he believed was a minor.

Ultimately, the alleged predator told Sgt. Gullberg, posing as a 13-year old girl, that he was going to fly from Seattle to Portland on Wednesday, February 7th to meet her. Gullberg quickly put together an arrest team with deputies and federal agents and set up at the airport with the help of the Port of Portland Police, according to Strovink.

"Doing what we do in an undercover arrest, we set up to meet our potential predator under the conditions that Sgt. Gullberg had laid out to him. The suspect's plane arrived right on time and at 8:17 Himanshu Upadhyaya was taken into custody on federal charges of Coercion and Enticement of a Minor for the Purpose of Sexual Contact."

Strovink says Sexual assault rates for children ages 12-17 are 133% higher than for adults according to the National Crime Victimization Survey. Predators focus on trusting, naïve, curious, adventuresome, affection seeking, and self esteem issues related to children when "grooming" or luring them in.

As indicated in this case they are willing to devote considerable time, money and energy in this process and the internet provides a sense of perceived anonymity for the predator.

The Clackamas Sheriff's Office asks parents to speak to their children about this serious issue. Talk about what is and is not appropriate when chatting online, what to do if the child believes they are being solicited online, and the things they should never do (ie. Agree to meet someone they don't know, or give out personal information such as address).

Parents who feel their child is or has been solicited online should contact their local law enforcement.

Cooperative interagency operations of this kind are proving vital in the effort to deter these predators and protect our children.

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Looking for update February 17, 2019 1:15 pm (Pacific time)

It’s been12 year is he a USA citizen now?

Indian November 11, 2011 6:07 am (Pacific time)

Where are these 4 nuts now after 4 years ... still in prison or got US citizenship..post arrest no story about themm... complete the story man..

JAFO; March 2, 2007 6:24 am (Pacific time)

Torn between the pedophile and the nipples and pit in my face not once but twice, I thought in desperation I'll try to ...pardon the expression, bump her off the list.. Don't panic, there's another! I'm not a fascist! But if someone or two else writes in I'll only have to see one of her. I'm not making this up!

Ketan February 24, 2007 5:23 am (Pacific time)

Thats very true, you CAN NOT accuse a country or its people based on such incidences. "He is a disgrace to the Indian community. He should be sent to a Siberian prison for life" - So, my friend vaibhav! I respect your thought on this. I'm sure you proud of your country India and all of the people living in the country, if not, please keep in touch with me and I'll make sure you leave this country soon. Please respond back on this thread if you think that you have never thought of any such dirty thing in your mind, I'm sure you are not Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi; even that person is not clean. everyone who's reading had definitely thought of such things - if not he may see his doctor. what this guy did was lil beyond the natural stuff so he will get the punishment for that. Anon / Anon2 / Anon3 and so on.. you folks are fortunate to have a country where things are in shape yet, managing people is not a big issue like other countries and you have all resources / power to do so. However, that doesnt mean that "India is full of bad males just like every other country in the world!.," - it doesnt mean "the US deals with these things better" either.... if you look at some of the statistics and data, it says - Study Shows U.S. Ranks Poorly on Child Maltreatment (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0918-01.htm) - some of the statistics can also be found here and the top countries are US / Canada / UK (not just the number of incidences but considering volume, gross income and other facts) - http://www.child-abuse-effects.com/child-abuse-statistics.html So, rather think globally then talking "inside society" and "outside society". If you are little more fortunate than others, that doesnt mean that you can write any ******* ****. I dont know why no one is talking about the other folks from US. this guy will get the punishment for what he did. You folks not required to blow up the issue or show empathy to him. If you really want to work on this. Stop such things happening rather reacting to it.

Ketan February 24, 2007 5:22 am (Pacific time)

Thats very true, you CAN NOT accuse a country or its people based on such incidences. "He is a disgrace to the Indian community. He should be sent to a Siberian prison for life" - So, my friend vaibhav! I respect your thought on this. I'm sure you proud of your country India and all of the people living in the country, if not, please keep in touch with me and I'll make sure you leave this country soon. Please respond back on this thread if you think that you have never thought of any such dirty thing in your mind, I'm sure you are not Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi; even that person is not clean. everyone who's reading had definitely thought of such things - if not he may see his doctor. what this guy did was lil beyond the natural stuff so he will get the punishment for that. Anon / Anon2 / Anon3 and so on.. you folks are fortunate to have a country where things are in shape yet, managing people is not a big issue like other countries and you have all resources / power to do so. However, that doesnt mean that "India is full of bad males just like every other country in the world!.," - it doesnt mean "the US deals with these things better" either.... if you look at some of the statistics and data, it says - Study Shows U.S. Ranks Poorly on Child Maltreatment (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0918-01.htm) - some of the statistics can also be found here and the top countries are US / Canada / UK (not just the number of incidences but considering volume, gross income and other facts) - http://www.child-abuse-effects.com/child-abuse-statistics.html So, rather think globally then talking "inside society" and "outside society". If you are little more fortunate than others, that doesnt mean that you can write any ******* ****. I dont know why no one is talking about the other folks from US. this guy will get the punishment for what he did. you folks not required to blow up the issue or show empathy to him. If you really want to work on this. Stop such things happening rather reacting to it.

zimone February 15, 2007 12:13 pm (Pacific time)

lets not accuse a specific country and its people. India is a great place. Criminals and such culprits can be from any part of the world, then why blame a country?

True February 12, 2007 11:18 pm (Pacific time)

Yup, Mauritius is not India. Somebody needs education here. May be Police are at liberty to hide other photos. I feel its fair to remove his photograph from the article.

Anon2; February 11, 2007 5:10 pm (Pacific time)

to anon;, yeah, in America we really got our roles in society and our crimes and punishment routines down to a fine science don't we? India is full of bad males just like every other country in the world!.,and a substantially lower number of bad females seem to inhabit it as well.,an amazingly far lower number.,so., Namaste Bai! Its up to us vile males to behave ourselves from the "inside society" no matter what the "outside society" does, I shouldn't need a policeman to tell me the difference of right and wrong in a case like this. I personally can't even and don't want to imagine such B.S. as "entertainment" and will continue to "treat others as we would be treated ourselves", if I may be so blunt. Straighten up all you heroes.,we can do better than this!

anon February 11, 2007 9:20 am (Pacific time)

Have any of you ever live in India? I have OFTEN suspected that between the still-sexually repressive-social-public, the still-lingering remnants of the "official caste system", and corruption within law enforcement, sexual and physical abuse of minors is rampant. And there is no "Oprah effect" in the media to bring such things to the public's attention. And so its my guess that is continues unabated. I’m glad that the US deals with these things better.

JAFO; February 10, 2007 10:52 pm (Pacific time)

i noticed thre were no female perpatrators, as a male I think the problem is on our shoulders, to think better than this.

VV February 9, 2007 8:46 am (Pacific time)

What kind of punishment does this result into ??

Anonymous February 9, 2007 8:04 am (Pacific time)

Sweet! Keep the stings going. There is only one reason an adult would be having a sex related chat with whom they think is a minor.

Microsoft employee February 9, 2007 3:38 am (Pacific time)

I think it's a sick act by all these culprits and i think they should all be punished severely for indulging in such sick offences! there's no excuse for misuse of the internet!Sicko!

khan February 9, 2007 2:54 am (Pacific time)

His crime is least among all.

Hmmm February 9, 2007 2:26 am (Pacific time)

what to say now....he is a poor guy....got cought in the pre planned drama....

anonymous February 8, 2007 9:55 pm (Pacific time)

He shud be given a fair trial.

equal; February 8, 2007 6:50 pm (Pacific time)

thanks for the fine coverage, I wasn't inferring you intentionally singled this one out.,and your follow up is excellent!.,other online news services in vicinity don't hold a candle to you. Well done.

equal; February 8, 2007 6:12 pm (Pacific time)

the photo is one suspect and if photos of the others were provided it would be that much more effective, and the authorities must have photos of all by now. Do justice by outing all of them!,this guy's "crime" was seemingly the least of all these *****.
The Editor: The only photo they have released is the one, if they do release others we will add them.

VV February 8, 2007 4:55 pm (Pacific time)

He may be at fault , Punish him for his stupidity , but I dont think its fare to only display the photo of Himanshu . Its purely an act of stupidity

Samuel February 8, 2007 4:54 pm (Pacific time)

A poor guy got caught in a bait sting. They should scare the day lights out of him and let him go. What a big deal these authorities seem to make.

Ananymous February 8, 2007 2:17 pm (Pacific time)

It proves idiots come from everywhere.

AKS February 8, 2007 1:49 pm (Pacific time)

Whats the authenticity of this News, this photo can be a spoof. why only this photo not any other culprits photo.
The Editor: As noted below this is the only photo the police made available.

anonymous February 8, 2007 1:29 pm (Pacific time)

Please correct. Is he from Maurtitius or is he from India?
Mauritius is not India. Its like saying mexico is USA.
Thank you for pointing that out. The police report listed that information.
Mauritius is an island nation off the coast of Africa in the southwest Indian Ocean: Wikipedia

The Editor February 8, 2007 1:03 pm (Pacific time)

This is the only photo the police made available.

shawn February 8, 2007 12:54 pm (Pacific time)

interesting why out of all the arrests the article starts with a blown up picture of Himanshu but no others?

vaibhav February 8, 2007 9:01 am (Pacific time)

He is a disgrace to the Indian community. He should be sent to a Siberian prison for life.

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