4 men arrested in Saginaw County human trafficking GHOST sting face combined 16 felonies

SAGINAW, MI — In a single day this spring, a human trafficking investigation between sheriff's offices in Saginaw and Genesee counties netted four arrests. Now, all four men have been criminally charged with a combined 16 counts between them.

In a June 21 joint video press conference, Saginaw County Sheriff William L. Federspiel and Genesee County Sheriff Christopher R. Swanson announced their agencies had collaborated on a lengthy human trafficking investigation along the Interstate 75 corridor connecting their jurisdictions. The investigation was conducted by the Genesee Human Oppression Strike Team, or GHOST.

“I started receiving calls from people in Saginaw County saying, ‘Hey, when are you going to do what Sheriff Swanson is doing?'” Federspiel said.

Such calls prompted Federspiel to seek GHOST's involvement in his county, making it one of 41 counties and states the task force has worked with since its 2018 inception.

On April 28, the probe bore fruit with four arrests in Saginaw County. The suspects had been using online platforms commonly used to solicit prostitution to communicate with what they thought were minors, according to Saginaw County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Blair N. Stevenson. In fact, they were communicating with undercover police operatives, with no actual minors involved at any point.

One of the four arrestees falsely claimed to be a police officer in his communications, Swanson said.

“He said, ‘Hey, I'm a cop. You need to give it to me for free,'” Swanson said. “But he wasn't a police officer. He used the leverage of law enforcement, which is many times part of the grooming tactic.”

Two of the arrestees reside in Saginaw County; the other two are Bay County residents.

“We start to see patterns of people who don't necessarily want to commit crimes in their own backyard, so they go to neighboring counties,” Federspiel said. “People will drive a long distance to commit these heinous crimes.”

Between July 19 and Aug. 10, the four men appeared in Saginaw County District Court for arraignment. The men, and their charges, are as follows:

• James T. Stong, 41 of Carrollton Township, three counts of child sexually abusive activity, four counts of using a computer to commit a crime, and one count of accosting children for immoral purposes.
• Keith A. Barrigar, 43 of St. Charles, two counts of using a computer to commit a crime and single counts of accosting children for immoral purposes and child sexually abusive activity.
• Perry J. Bolda, 61 of Bay City, single counts of using a computer to commit a crime and child sexually abusive activity.
• William R. Mayse, 43 of Bay City, single counts of using a computer to commit a crime and child sexually abusive activity.
• Stong, Barrigar, and Bolda have since bonded out of jail. Mayse remains in the Saginaw County Jail on a $7,500 bond as of Aug. 17.

“This was the first time Saginaw County has conducted a GHOST operation,” Chief Assistant Prosecutor Stevenson said. “It shows Saginaw County will not tolerate this type of behavior and is taking aggressive actions to prevent such behavior.”

Mayse has since been bound over to Saginaw County Circuit Court. Stong, Barrigar, and Bolda have hearings scheduled in District Court in late August and September.

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