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A 35-year-old child predator and registered sex offender from Liberty County thought he was going to meet and have sex with a 15-year-old girl when he went to an East Montgomery County store Tuesday afternoon. Instead, he found himself surrounded by cops and placed under arrest by the Montgomery County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office. 

Precinct 4 Constable Kenneth “Rowdy” Hayden said his agency launched the investigation that led to the sting and arrest after a local mother contacted his office saying an adult male had befriended her 15-year-old daughter on Facebook and was making inappropriate comments. Investigators from Constable Hayden’s office and Precinct 3 Constable Ryan Gable’s Office who have been specially trained in dealing with cybercrimes against children then took over the teen’s Facebook page and continued the dialogue suspect Stanley Haney had begun with the girl. Haney’s sexually explicit messages intensified as he pressed for a meeting and sexual intercourse with the online persona who he was repeatedly told was 15 years old.

As the investigation continued, assisted by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, a sexual encounter was planned for Tuesday afternoon. Haney was to meet the teen at a store in Patton Village, which is where he learned his online prey was not a child, but a police officer with a warrant for his arrest. He was taken from his vehicle to the back of a patrol vehicle and to the Precinct 4 office in New Caney for processing before he was released to the custody of the Montgomery County Jail. Patton Village and Splendora Police Departments assisted in apprehending Haney- an operation that went very smoothly.

Investigators said Haney meant business, arriving at the Patton Village store as scheduled, with a freshly opened box of condoms. The Constable said Haney’s story could easily have ended very differently, with one more person damaged for life.

“I believe we prevented the sexual assault of a child today,” Constable Hayden said. “I’m very proud of our agency and all those that assisted.”

Actually, investigators said Haney planned to have sexual contact with at least two children this week. A second investigator was also on Facebook posing as a 13-year-old girl from The Woodlands and Haney had made arrangements to meet and have sex with “her” on Friday.

Haney is already listed on the Texas Sex Offender Registry and was convicted of Failure to Comply With Sex Offender Registration in December 2010, which is a second-degree felony.

Constable Hayden said he could not stress enough the importance of parental supervision of children’s online activities.

“Children are naturally trusting and easily deceived - Monsters like Stanley Haney know this,” Hayden said. “They seek out victims who don’t have a parent or guardian paying attention like the mother who is responsible making us aware of Stanley Haney.”

“Know who your children are talking to, and know what they’re talking about,” he said. “And check the Texas Sex Offender Registry regularly to see who’s in your area. Your child’s safety is worth the time it takes.”

Stanley Ray “Stan” Haney is charged with two counts of second-degree felony Online Solicitation of a Minor. He is currently in the Montgomery County Jail, held without bond.

After Haney’s arrest, Constable Hayden and investigators from Precincts 3 and 4, assisted by Liberty County Precinct 6 Constable John Joslin executed a search warrant at Haney’s residence on CR 3183 in unincorporated Cleveland. Haney lives in his family home, along with his parents, younger brothers, and his 7-year-old daughter.

Investigators found marijuana in plain view inside the residence, which is in unincorporated Cleveland. The Liberty County Precinct 6 Deputy Constables arrested Haney’s two younger brothers for misdemeanor Possession of Marijuana. They were transported to the Liberty County Jail.