Former Sheriff’s Deputy Receives Probation for Online Misconduct

A former sheriff’s deputy gets no prison time following an online sting by the Genesee Human Oppression Strike Team.

24-year-old Benjamin Reinhart, who was hired by the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department in 2019, pleaded guilty earlier this year to using a computer to commit a crime and misconduct in office. He was also accused of child sexually abusive activity and accosting children for immoral purposes, but those charges were dropped in a plea deal.

Police say Reinhart chatted online with someone he believed to be a minor, exchanging more than 400 messages which were explicit in nature. He was actually chatting with police, who pretended to be a 15-year-old teen.

Reinhart was sentenced to 60 months of probation. He’s been placed on a non-public sex offender registry and must pay court costs and fees.