Fifteen arrests made in large pedophile sting

The Washington State Patrol’s Missing & Exploited Children Task Force recently took the lead on a large pedophile sting which resulted in several arrests across the state of Washington and into Oregon. — File photo

Vancouver man, Travis Saban, was one of those arrested in the Longview-based operation

Leah Anaya
for Clark County

The Washington State Patrol’s Missing & Exploited Children Task Force recently took the lead on a large pedophile sting which resulted in several arrests across the state of Washington and into Oregon. One Vancouver man was listed among those arrested at the target location for what was deemed Operation Net Nanny, which was centered at the WinCo Foods in Longview. Officers posed as minors or as parents of minors who were planning on meeting with the suspects.

Travis Saban, 49, was the Vancouver man taken into custody as a part of the sting. It turns out, this incident was not Saban’s first run-in with officers, nor was it his first encounter with them as a part of a sting operation. In 2016, Saban was also one of several arrests during a sting operation, that time out of Portland. During that incident, Portland Police Bureau’s Sexual Trafficking Unit arrested 28 people who responded to online posts attempting to pay for sexual acts. The men from that operation were arrested when they met undercover officers instead of prostitutes at the hotels. Those arrested, including Saban, were charged with a misdemeanor for patronizing a prostitute. Because so many men responded to the ad, police only issued citations rather than bringing them all into custody. Six men total in that operation were from Clark County. Several men were arrested from the east coast, and one even as far as Canada.

In 2019, Saban received just 120 days on the work crew for theft of over $90,000, according to a restitution report filed at the time. Reportedly, he had to pay back five different victims after being charged with five counts of second-degree theft and one count of first-degree theft. The victims were mostly construction companies. He said at the time that he stole the money in order to pay off $200,000 he’d garnered at multiple casinos. According to his defense attorney for that case, Megan Peyton, Saban also received treatment for gambling assistance in addition to the work crew.

During Operation Net Nanny, 15 total arrests were made. Probable cause statements indicated that the undercover officers would either pose as a minor on a dating site and attempt to speak with men in sexual manners alluding to a sexual relationship and/or encounter or a parent setting up her daughter for sexual activity for pay.

Suspects were taken to Longview Police Department for processing before being transported to the Cowlitz County Jail.

Cowlitz County Prosecutor Ryan Jurvakainen said of the operation, “I’m proud of the deputy prosecuting attorneys in my office who worked diligently to assist in this important operation to crack down on individuals who are online trying to victimize our youth. I was very impressed with the large-scale operation conducted by the Washington State Patrol, its partner agencies from throughout the state, and our local agencies that contributed resources including the Longview Police Department, the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office, and the Kelso Police Department.”

According to a press release from WSP, the following are the names of the men arrested during the operation: