Details Emerge in Child Predator Sting Operation

Details have emerged in the child predator undercover sting operation that was carried out over the weekend by former “To Catch a Predator” personality Chris Hansen in cooperation with the Fairfield Police Department and the State’s Attorney’s Office.

Fairfield Police arrested 10 men, from ages 19 to 64, in the four-day operation in which the men went to a Fairfield house allegedly to meet up with someone they believed was either a 13-year-old boy or a 12-year-old girl they had been communicating with via the Internet and text messages.

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The Fairfield Citizen breaks down how the operation unfolded and has details of the arrests, including the case of Stephen Buchanan, 27, of Stratford, who is a member of the Connecticut National Guard and fought in Iraq.

Police told the Citizen that Buchanan allegedly tried to convince the Fairfield University student who portrayed the girl to get into his car, where officers later found a black bag containing a loaded gun, a roll of duct tape, a knife and a box of condoms.

David N. Tiriolo, 31, of East Village Road in Shelton, was arrested in the operation and told police he was medically unable to have sex, but police found a box of condoms in his car that he claimed were old, according to the Citizen.

Another man who was arrested, Joshua Colon, 32, of Glendale, N.Y., allegedly admitted to police that he had previously sodomized a 15-year-old boy.

Three other Connecticut men were arrested in the operation including Charles E. Lawrence, 59, Plesko Place, Fairfield; Jesse Velez, 28, Fairfield Avenue, Bridgeport and John M. Dupee, 40, Dover Street, Norwalk.

Read the full list of arrests, charges, and how the operation unfolded at the Fairfield Citizen here.