Lincoln City Police Officers have been conducting several online child-luring investigations over the past few months, which have resulted in the recent arrests of two local men. During the investigations, officers posing as underage children on various online social media platforms were contacted by adult men who offered to meet up with a person they believed to be a minor for sex or used online communications to solicit a child to engage in sexual contact or sexually explicit conduct. The following arrests were made during the course of these investigations.
On November 9, 2023, 56-year-old Scott Anthony Cotter of Lincoln City, Oregon, was arrested after he arrived at an undisclosed public location to meet up with a minor for sex. Cotter had been chatting on social media with undercover officers and during conversations had sent graphic messages depicting various sexual acts along with sending nude photos of himself. Cotter stated he wanted to meet up with the persons he believed to be minors for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts. Cotter was taken into custody by Lincoln City Police and subsequently transported to the Lincoln County Jail where he was lodged on criminal charges of: three counts of Luring a Minor, one count of Online Sexual Corruption of a Child in the first degree, two counts of Online Sexual Corruption of a Child in the second degree, and Display Child Sexual Conduct.
On November 13, 2023, 28-year-old Joseph Ray Williams of Otis, Oregon, was arrested after he arrived at an undisclosed public location to meet up with a minor for sex. Williams had recently begun chatting online with an undercover officer posing as a minor female. During the course of the online conversations, he sent sexually graphic messages and nude photos of himself. Williams made arrangements to meet and pick up the fictitious minor female for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts in his car. Williams was taken into custody by Lincoln City Police subsequently transported to the Lincoln County Jail where he was lodged on criminal charges of: Luring a Minor, Online Sexual Corruption of a Child in the first degree, attempted Sexual Abuse III, attempted Rape III, and attempted Sodomy III.
The Lincoln City Police want to encourage parents to monitor their childrens’ social media activity and discuss with them the possible dangers of communicating with strangers online. These investigations are conducted in an effort to reduce criminal activity and to further enhance the safety of our community.
Submitted by: Lieutenant Jeffrey Winn
