Agents Bust Evans City Man in Undercover Sex Sting

Cranberry Police assisted agents from the state Attorney General's Child Predator Unit in the arrest of an Evans City man charged with sexually propositioning someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl.

Dennis Belles, 45, of West Main Street, traveled to a Cranberry motel in the hopes of meeting the girl for sex, but the "girl" actually was an undercover agent posing online as a young teen, investigators said.

Attorney General Kathleen Kane said Belles was arrested Sunday, Feb. 10, when he arrived at the predetermined location.

Belles used an online forum to contact an undercover agent, according to the criminal complaint. At the time, the agent was using the identity of a single mother with a 13-year-old girl.

Kane said Belles told the agent he was "looking to be part of a family with girls that is not afraid of open family sex" and discussed meeting the "girl" at the hotel.

According to the charges, Belles contacted someone he believed to be the woman's daughter on Friday, Feb. 8, and discussed in graphic detail the sex acts he wished to perform on her when they met that weekend.

Belles was preliminarily arraigned before District Judge David Kovach in Cranberry and lodged in the Butler County Prison in lieu of a $100,000 cash bond.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled before Kovach at 9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 15.

Following Belles’ arrest, Kane said that agents obtained a warrant to search Belles' home and vehicle and seized electronic devices. Those items will be analyzed by the Attorney General's Computer Forensics Unit as part of an ongoing investigation.

Belles is charged with unlawful contact with a minor related to sexual offenses, criminal attempt/involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, criminal use of a communication facility, unlawful contact with a minor (obscene and other sexual material and performances) and criminal attempt/indecent assault.

Deputy Attorney General Anthony Marmo of the Attorney General's Child Predator Unit will prosecute the case in Butler County.

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