By Reed Williams
The Roanoke Times
Bedford County authorities used a 15-year-old girl in an undercover sting to ensnare a man she had accused of giving her drugs in exchange for sexual favors.
Investigators sent the teen — in the company of a deputy sheriff who was posing as a 17-year-old girl — to four meetings with the 64-year-old suspect, said sheriff’s Investigator Wendy Finch.
“We typically do not use juveniles,” Finch said, “but given the circumstances, we felt a greater need to.”
The investigation led to the arrest Friday of Chuck Lightfoot, a Campbell County truck driver.
He faces 10 felony charges, including taking indecent liberties with a minor and multiple counts of distribution of marijuana and cocaine to a juvenile within 1,000 feet of a school, authorities report.
Finch said authorities believed they needed the girl’s help to build a strong case against Lightfoot.
The teen assisted voluntarily, Finch said, and authorities also got her mother’s permission.
“She was never in harm’s way,” the investigator said.
“The undercover officer was by her side the entire time.”
Tod Burke, a criminal justice professor at Radford University and a former Maryland police officer, said that any danger to the girl’s safety might have been outweighed by the need to “prevent further victimization not only to herself but to others.”
Such an operation runs the risk, however, that the target could suspect an undercover sting and react with violence, Burke said.
“They may panic and strike out,” he said.
Finch pointed out that authorities had no reason to think Lightfoot would lash out. Lightfoot has known the girl for at least a year, she said, and had given her gifts of cellphones, clothes and other items.
The two counts against Lightfoot of taking indecent liberties with a minor stem from incidents in the fall, Finch said.
The investigation began in November after Bedford County social services reported to the sheriff’s office that a teenager was “having trouble with cocaine at school,” Finch said.
After interviewing the girl, investigators believed they needed to corroborate her story, Finch said, because it was “his word against hers.”
The drug-related charges against Finch stem from three meetings in Bedford County in January and February that were arranged by investigators. Two of the encounters took place near New London Academy elementary school, and the other occurred in an undisclosed location. A fourth meeting resulted in no charges.
Finch would only say that the undercover deputy had a gun “nearby” during all four meetings. Other deputies were conducting surveillance.
The teenager and the undercover deputy both received illegal drugs at three of the meetings, Finch said.
“We did not allow any sexual contact to occur,” Finch said.
“The family is pleased,” she added. “They’re pleased with the entire investigation.”
Lightfoot was being held without bond at the Blue Ridge Regional Jail.
Copyright 2007 The Roanoke Times