LAKE HAVASU CITY – A Lake Havasu City man convicted of sexually explicit communications and exchanges with a 12-year-old California girl is being sent to the Arizona Department of Corrections for five years. During Thursday’s sentencing hearing at the Mohave County courthouse Judge Doug Camacho also ordered that Christian Charvarin, 22, will serve ten years’ probation following his release from prison. Charvarin was convicted through a plea agreement of sexual exploitation of a minor and aggravated luring of a minor for sexual exploitation. Deputy Mohave County attorney Karolina Czaplinska said the investigation began when a California woman discovered her daughter…

KINGMAN – Sexual relations with an inmate could bring prison time for a Golden Valley woman. Melony Petrovffsky, 50, pleaded guilty Dec. 8 to unlawful sexual conduct by a correctional employee, while two identical charges are dismissed in the deal. Deputy Mohave County attorney James Schoppmann said Petrovffsky was employed by the GEO Group, which operates the state prison in Golden Valley, when she engaged in sexual activity with a male inmate in the commissary in Sept. 2019. He said evidence of the illegal conduct was captured by the video surveillance system. “There was kissing, hugging and groping going on…

LAKE HAVASU CITY – A Lake Havasu City man made an initial court appearance last month for sex offense charges associated with a child pornography investigation initiated in January, 2019. An internet task force alerted Lake Havasu police to illegal image downloading activity at a Bombay Ave. home inhabited by Joshua Waelchli, 26. Computer, laptop, gaming console, tablet, Ipad, cell phone and other electronic devices were seized at the residence for forensic examination. A police report indicates Waelchli first told police he was accidentally clicked his way to child porn on the internet before he made admissions including that he…

KINGMAN – Another defendant snagged in an investigation where a male detective posed as a 13-year-old girl is going to the Arizona Department of Corrections for sex offense convictions. Mohave County Superior Court Judge Rick Lambert imposed a 15-year prison term Monday for Shane McHone, 30, Kingman. Judge Lambert also sentenced McHone to lifetime probation once his prison sentence is completed, agreeing with prosecutor Karolina Czaplinska who said the convict should be monitored to make certain he doesn’t target minors again. The Mohave County Sheriff’s office operation used a detective whose social media posts drew responses from men whom he…