A $100,000 cash bond was set Friday for a Merrill man charged with child sex crimes. James S. Ament, 51, faces felony counts of Attempted 1st Degree Child Sexual Assault – Sexual Contact with Person Under Age 13; Use Computer to Facilitate and Child Sex Crime; and Child Enticement-Sexual Contact.
According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, deputies arrested Ament Thursday morning after an investigation into child sex crimes. Lincoln County Sheriff’s Detectives specially trained by the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force conducted the investigation and as a result, Ament was arrested at a park in the city of Merrill.
Ament had been communicating with an under-cover detective who was posing as a 10-year-old boy. Ament tried multiple times to arrange a meeting with the detective posing as the boy for sex. The Sheriff’s Office was able to arrange a meeting place for Ament to pick up the “boy” and when Ament arrived deputies took him into custody.
A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 5.