By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
EL RENO – A Yukon man arrested last month outside a fast-food restaurant in an undercover online sting faces up to 40 years in prison for allegedly trying to meet two underage girls for sex.
Cody Lee Ewing, 27, was charged March 3 in Canadian County District Court with two counts of lewd/indecent proposals to child under 16. Each felony count is punishable by 3-20 years in prison and a maximum $10,000 fine.
Assistant District Attorney Walter Mengden alleges Ewing between Feb. 22-24 made “electronically generated” proposals to two females he believed were under 16 so they would have “unlawful sexual relations” with him.
Ewing was the only Canadian County resident caught during a recent undercover investigation by the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office and nonprofit organization Safe from Online Sex Abuse (SOSA).
In all, five men from Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas were arrested during a four-day operation that targeted adults seeking children for sex in Canadian County.
The arrestees allegedly came to a “decoy” house, hotels and restaurants in Canadian County to meet underage girls.
SOSA provided two adult females who communicated with the men through video chats, text and social media messages and phone calls.
CONVERSATIONS TURNED QUICKLY
Allegations against Yukon’s Ewing are detailed in a probable cause affidavit signed by Canadian County Sheriff’s Sgt. David Cates.
Ewing allegedly initiated contact with who believed were 14- and 15-year-old girls on a phone messaging app. He really was communicating with the adult-age undercover decoys.
The conversations quickly turned explicitly sexual with Ewing advising both females that he wanted to have a “sexual threesome” with them, according to the investigator’s affidavit.
“Cody told both girls to (take an) Uber to the Taco Bell on Cornwell in Yukon, and that he would take them back to his apartment across the street to engage in sex with them both,” the court document reads.
“Cody wanted both of the girls to text when they arrived, and he would walk across the street to them.”
Sgt. Cates arrested Ewing on Feb. 24 in front of the fast-food restaurant as he was walking to allegedly meet the underage girls.
Ewing admitted he knew having sexually explicit conversations and any sexual contact with the two minors were illegal, the probable cause affidavit indicates.
Canadian County Special Judge David H. Halley signed the warrant for Ewing’s arrest. Bail was set at $50,000 because of the “seriousness of the crime,” according to a court order.
After his arrest in Yukon, Ewing was booked into the Canadian County Jail where he remains in custody. A preliminary conference is set May 10 before Judge Halley.
Ewing’s attorney is public defender Jason Spanich.
