Bonner man acquitted in online sex sting

MISSOULA (AP) — A 36-year-old Bonner man has been acquitted of a charge alleging he responded to an online ad placed by undercover officers offering sex with a 12-year-old girl.

Jurors reached the verdict on Sept. 11 in the child sexual abuse case against Chad Lee Briggs.

Briggs said the initial ad didn’t explicitly say anything about an underage girl and he contacted the ad’s author on Dec. 17 out of concern. He said when they posted the age of the girl he flagged it for removal from Craigslist.

Briggs said he later figured out his girlfriend, Jenna Davis, was communicating with the undercover detective and setting up an encounter. Davis also was charged in the sting.

Briggs says Child Protective Services took his daughter away and he lost his job, house, truck and dog.