Genesee Co. sheriff updates arrests of 8 for child sexual abusive activity

Eight people accused of sex crimes involving children have been arrested by Genesee County authorities over the last few months, officials said.

Genesee County Sheriff Christopher Swanson announced the arrests Friday in a 20-minute video posted on his office's official Facebook page.

All eight were arrested by members of his office's Genesee Human Oppression Strike Team, or GHOST, a special task force with the sheriff's office that targets sexual predators. Since its inception in 2018, it has operated in nine states, 58 Michigan counties and apprehended 200 suspects, he said.

"These are the cases GHOST has focused on in the recent past," the sheriff said.

Swanson said one of the suspects was charged with 30 counts of possessing child pornography. Two suspects, a 29-year-old and a 23-year-old, have not yet been formally charged, he said.

Five of the suspects have been charged with accosting a child for immoral purposes, using a computer to commit a crime, and child sexually abusive activity, Swanson said.

If convicted, the suspects face up to four years in prison for the accosting charge, up to 20 years for using a computer to commit a crime, and up to 20 years for the child sexually abusive activity charge.

He identified six suspects as Stosh Gizinski, 39, Nickolas Lee, 30, Clifford Mitts, 69, Devin Raymond, 44, Jesus Valverde-Texta, 29, and Jared Weaver, 31.

Swanson said Stosh Gizinski, of Lapeer, allegedly arranged with a police decoy to have sex with a 15-year-old girl for cash. He was arrested in Montrose Township and arraigned in February. A district court judge set his bond at $10,000, according to court records. He is scheduled to appear in court on May 6.

Gizinski is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary examination on Wednesday.

His attorney was immediately available for comment Monday.

Swanson said Lee was arrested on a 30-count felony warrant. He said investigators started investigating Lee last fall and they found he had placed a hidden video camera in an underaged girl's bedroom.

The girl's parents discovered the device and called police, the sheriff said.

Investigators found more than 290 images of child pornography on Lee's phone, he said. "These are young girls whose ages are in the single digits," Swanson said.

Among the charges against him are 15 counts of aggravated possession of child sexually abusive material, a four-year felony, and 15 counts of using a computer to commit a crime, a 20-year felony, according to court records.

A district court judge set Lee's bond at $20,000 and scheduled his next court hearing for May 6, records said.

His attorney was immediately available for comment Monday.

Mitts, a Saginaw County resident, exchanged messages with a police decoy and allegedly offered to pay $60 to engage in sex acts with a 15-year-old, the sheriff said. Court records said he was arrested in May 2023.

He was arraigned and a judge set his bond at $30,000.

In January, a Genesee County Circuit Court judge sentenced Mitts to three years of probation after he pleaded guilty to a charge of seduction, accosting a child for immoral purposes, and using a computer to commit a crime, according to court records.

His attorney was immediately available for comment Monday.

Swanson said Devin Raymond of St. Clair Shores was arrested last year after he showed up at a motel in Mundy Township to allegedly have sex with a 15-year-old girl in exchange for paying her mother $100.

A district court judge bound Raymond over for trial in circuit court last month, according to court records. His bond was set at $4,500. Raymond is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday for a pre-trial hearing.

His attorney was immediately available for comment Monday.

Officials said Jesus Valverde-Texta, of Pontiac, was arrested in Flint Township in October after allegedly arranging with a police decoy posing as a woman to have sex with her 15-year-old daughter in exchange for $70. Investigators said he told the woman he was 17 and he asked her about her daughter's age three times.

Valverde-Texta was arraigned in district court in Flint in March and a judge set his bond at $15,000. A probable cause hearing in the case against him was scheduled for last week.

His attorney, Leonid Garbuzov, said he had no comment Monday.

Jared Weaver, of Clair, was arrested last May after he allegedly spoke with a police decoy over two days and arranged to pay $80 to have sex with a 15-year-old without a prophylactic, Swanson said.

In March, a district court judge arraigned Weaver and set his bond at $10,000, according to court records. He is scheduled to appear for a probable cause hearing in district court on Thursday, records said.

His attorney was immediately available for comment Monday.

cramirez@detroitnews.com

X: @CharlesERamirez