NWA police active in child sex sting arrests

Law enforcement officers were able to track an Illinois man’s cellphone as he made the 597-mile trek to Benton County for the purpose of meeting minors for sex, authorities said.

Thomas Riemer, 64, had started communicating on Aug. 5, 2022, with an undercover Benton County sheriff’s detective on a social media site. The detective was posing as a mother with 10- and 4-year-old daughters, according to court documents.

Riemer, who was arrested days later, remains at large after missing a court hearing, is one of dozens of internet stalking cases being handled by the Benton County prosecuting attorney’s office, authorities said.

The detective and other law enforcement officers tracked Riemer’s cellphone on Aug. 9, 2022, as he traveled from Plainfield, Ill., to Bentonville, deputies said. They were waiting and arrested Riemer when he arrived at the meeting location.

Riemer is charged with internet stalking of a child, conspiracy to rape, traveling for the purpose of an unlawful sex act with a minor and distributing, possessing or viewing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child.

He was released from jail on $350,000 bond, but failed to appear in court in December, deputies said. A warrant was issued for his arrest.

Siloam Springs police have been particularly active when it comes to making arrests in these kinds of cases. Since Jan. 1, 2022, they’ve arrested 33 people in connection with internet stalking of a child, according to Thomas Gean, a Benton County deputy prosecutor.

A Siloam Springs undercover detective poses as a child — sometimes a boy, other times a girl. The online communications could lead to a suspect sending sexually explicit messages and even photographs to the detective. Some agree to meet with the belief they’ll have sex with a child. They arrive at an arranged meeting place in Siloam Springs and are met by police instead of a child.