Two arrested in Cedar Rapids Police operation targeting sex crimes against children

CEDAR RAPIDS — Two men were arrested Tuesday as part of a Cedar Rapids Police operation to investigate sex crimes against children.

Joshua Rahn, 39, of Burlington, is charged with sexual exploitation of a minor, enticing a minor under 16, grooming, and two counts of phone dissemination of obscene material to minors. Kevin Cox, 39, of Hiawatha is charged with prostitution.

According to search warrants filed in both cases, The Mobile Assist Team with the Cedar Rapids Police Department has been running an online operation to catch sexual predators by making false accounts on online dating apps and chat rooms where people seek dates, relationships and sex.

“Several guidelines are followed while performing this project including not reaching out to profiles ourselves and waiting for them to contact us, not suggesting any sex act, and only waiting for the other party to suggest ideas, not reinitiating contact if the conversation has ended, and making sure the other party knows the age of who they are talking to,” a search warrant states.

On Dec. 12, Rahn and Cox both contacted a profile that officers had set up on a well-known prostitution site. The profile stated the person offering sexual services was 19, but once someone reached out to the profile they were informed that the fake profile was actually 15.

Both Rahn and Cox questioned the account, worried that is was a spoof account set up by police. According to a search warrant, Cox texted the account asking, “Do you have a way of proving this isn’t something where I’m gonna show up and be arrested for what you just shared? Lol,” and the officer operating the account responded, “Arrested?! OMG I’m not a cop lol.”

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Cox agreed to meet the fake profile at Jones Park in Cedar Rapids that same day, Dec. 12. Police surveillance was set up outside Cox’s house in Hiawatha, and they watched him leave his house and followed him until he arrived at Jones Park, where officers initiated a traffic stop.

An officer asked Cox why he was at the park at 11 p.m., and Cox initially responded that he wanted to take photos of the stars, but later admitted that he had been planning to meet a girl who he met on the prostitution website and who he believed was 15.

Cox’s phone was seized and a warrant was filed so it could be searched. A warrant was issued for his arrest on Jan. 16 and he was arrested Tuesday. He had a first appearance in court Wednesday and was released on his own recognizance.

Rahn didn’t ask to meet with the spoof account when he first contacted it, because he lived in Burlington and said he didn’t want to drive two hours, but he messaged the profile again on Dec. 17. At that time, he was informed the fake girl was 15 years old and he acknowledged her age. He asked multiple times for a nude photograph of the 15-year-old “so that he could verify that it was not a police setup,” but was not sent any photos, according to a search warrant.

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He texted the account about sex acts that he wanted to perform and sent inappropriate pictures and videos, eventually agreeing to meet up with the account at a restaurant in Cedar Rapids on Dec. 24, where he was met by police officers, according to a criminal complaint.

Rahn admitted in an interview with police that he’d been texting the account sexual images, but said he did not know the profile was 15 years old. Police showed him the text message where he acknowledged the profile’s age, and he said he didn’t remember much of the conversation, according to a search warrant.

A warrant was filed to search Rahn’s phone after the interview, and a warrant for his arrest was issued on Jan. 16. He was arrested Tuesday and had his initial appearance in court on Wednesday. He’s being held in the Linn County Jail on a $50,000 bond.

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