Daily Journal staff reports
A Franklin resident with a criminal record for engaging in a sex act with a teen several years ago is again the subject of a police investigation after a Whiteland Community High School student told a teacher that a stranger was trying to pay him for a sex act.
Mihirbhai N. Patel, 27, of Franklin, is facing a level 4 felony charge of promoting prostitution after a police investigation showed he tried to pay a teenage boy $100 in exchange for a sex act. The boy was one of three Whiteland Community High School teens that Patel had contacted last week, Franklin Police Det. Jeff Merritt said.
Patel had been arrested in 2015 after he paid a teenage boy he met online for sex on two occasions. At the time, Patel worked locally as a substitute teacher. He completed community service and sex offender evaluation and treatment and paid a fine through the pretrial diversion program, and the misdemeanor charge was dismissed.
This time, police were called and took over one teen’s social media account, intervening in the communication and arresting Patel on Thursday when he thought he was coming to meet the 16-year-old boy for a sex act, Merritt said.
Now, police are considering whether they can investigate if Patel had propositioned other teens by looking at Patel’s social media accounts and messaging history, Merritt said. Police took Patel’s phone as part of the investigation, but would need to be granted a search warrant to look into any of his other communications, Merritt said.
The investigation started on Wednesday, when three teenage boys who are in a class together realized each of them had been messaged by Patel, who is a stranger to them.
Two of the teens did not continue the discussion after realizing they did not know him, but one boy did. When Patel turned the conversation sexual, the teen told a teacher. A New Whiteland police officer working as a school resource officer contacted Franklin police.
Patel had offered to pay the teen for sex acts, according to the probable cause affidavit. Police, using the teen’s account, arranged a meeting for Friday. The meeting was a crucial step in the investigation because it would prove that Patel was the person operating the social media account, and that he had intent to pay a teen for a sex act. Patel was promising to pay the teen $100 each time they met, the affidavit said.
When Patel arrived, police surrounded his vehicle to arrest him. He initially started to flee, but then stopped, Merritt said. He told police he was mostly concerned about the news of his arrest being made public, rather than being remorseful about what he had done, Merritt said.
Patel, of 2250 Cedarmill Drive, was arrested and taken to the Johnson County jail and released on $6,600 bond.
The Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office will decide what, if any, charge to file.
