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Online sting nets Kennesaw man in Gainesville
johnethanmichael
John Ethan Michael

A Kennesaw man who traveled to Gainesville with the intentions of having sex with a 14-year-old girl was arrested Thursday, Hall County Sheriff’s officials said Friday.

John Ethan Michael, 29, was arrested at an undisclosed location and charged with sexual exploitation of children and obscene Internet contact with a child, Hall County Sheriff’s Col. Jeff Strickland said.

Strickland said Michael engaged in sexually explicit Internet chats with an undercover sheriff’s investigator whom he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.

After about four months of conversing with the investigator, Michael arranged to meet with a person he thought was an underage girl for sex, Strickland said.

Michael was arrested without incident when he arrived at the location Thursday, Strickland said.

The arrest was not connected to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s ongoing child pornography sweep, which has resulted in the arrests of 25 people this week, including Gainesville’s Jesus Martinez.