MISSAUKEE COUNTY, MI. The Michigan State Police (MSP) Cadillac Post announced the arrest of 52-year-old Donald Eric Cheyne of Lake City, for several felonies involving child sexually abusive activity and other related felonies.
According to a statement from the Michigan State Police, the investigation began in July 2023, when two people from an online organization contacted the MSP to report they had been having online conversations with Cheyne.
Cheyne had been communicating with members of the group who had set up fictitious accounts using profiles of underage females. The communications were sexual in nature. Cheyne began sending inappropriate images of himself and soliciting sex.
Search warrants were executed at Cheyne’s residence and electronic devices were seized. Cheyne was interviewed and the electronic devices were sent to the MSP Computer Crimes Unit for forensic analysis. A report was turned over to the Missaukee County Prosecutor’s Office and an arrest warrant was authorized on January 25, 2024.
The MSP 7th District Fugitive Team arrested Cheyne at his residence on Jan. 29 and lodged him in the Missaukee County Jail.
Cheyne was arraigned in the 84th District Court in Missaukee County for five counts Possession Child Sexually Abusive Material, one count Aggravated Possession Child Sexually Abusive Material, three counts Accosting Children For Immoral Purposes, two counts Distributing Sexually Explicit Visual or Verbal to Children, two counts Child Sexually Abusive Activity, two counts Distributing or Promoting Child Sexually Abusive Activity, and three counts Using a Computer to Commit a Crime.
His bond was set at $100,000. His next scheduled court appearance is Feb. 15 at 1:30 p.m.
