Halye

Halye

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KINGSTON — A state inmate and registered sex offender was charged Tuesday with soliciting sex from a 15-year-old boy who turned out to be an adult male cooperating with police.

Michael Halye was arraigned using the online Zoom platform from the State Correctional Institution at Greene.

District Justice James Haggerty of Kingston set bail at $75,000. But Hayle, 47, who last listed his address as Moosic Street in Scranton, said he was serving five months in prison for a parole violation.

In 2011, Halye, who had been living in Hazleton at the time, was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison for his guilty plea to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl. He also was deemed a sexually violent predator by the court.

The latest charges against Halye are all felonies, including unlawful contact with a minor for sex, solicitation to commit statutory sexual assault and criminal use of a communication facility. His case was among nine investigated in October by Kingston police who relied on evidence gathered by Luzerne County Predator Catcher Musa Harris. Overall since 2020 the department has arrested more than 30 adults for soliciting sex online from people whom they believed were underage teenage boys or girls.

The complaint filed against Halye said:

Halye initiated the online communication at 3:21 a.m. on July 21. They discussed meeting to have sex and Halye provided the address of his Moosic Street apartment. Halye and the boy exchanged photos of their penises and Halye gave his assurance to the boy no one will know about them having sex.

“If anyone’s around, just call me daddy,” Halye told the boy.

Later in the afternoon they began texting about meeting. Halye told the boy he was having hernia surgery on Aug. 2 and “then NO SEX for at least a month after.” At Halye’s direction the boy was to meet him at the house next door on Moosic Street.

The male cooperating with police informed Halye of his arrival. The male walked up to Halye, who was on the porch looking toward the house next door and made an audio and video recording of their encounter.

After noticing the boy had not arrived Halye began to walk back into the apartment building. Halye said he wasn’t waiting for anyone and had come outside to smoke a cigarette. Halye stated he doesn’t talk to anyone under 18 and denied “trying to hook up with anybody.”

When the male brought up specific information about their previous online conversation Halye asked if they could “just forget it,” adding this was the first time doing this. Halye opened his phone and admitted the boy gave his age as 15. The male then asked Halye if he thinks he has a problem doing this. Halye responded,”yes,” and said he was getting rid of the app on his phone and it would never happen again.

The male asked someone to call 911 and Halye immediately went into the apartment building.

Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.