SUNDANCE, WY — A suspected online predator was arrested after traveling to Wyoming to meet a 15-year-old Sundance girl, then being stopped less than five hours later during a traffic stop in South Dakota. Prosecutors say Dalton Renollet, 36, of Maricopa, Arizona, was taking the teen to Ohio when law enforcement intercepted the trip on Aug. 31.
Crook County Sheriff Jeff Hodge said the case ended before it could become even more dangerous, but it exposed a broader problem that has surfaced twice in the county in about a month. In both incidents, Hodge said, older men tried to connect in person with local teenage girls after meeting them online. The sheriff now wants parents and guardians to better understand how grooming can start, how it can progress, and how quickly it can cross into real-world danger.
Traffic stop in South Dakota ended the trip before it reached Ohio
Authorities say Renollet first tried to confuse investigators by giving the teen a false name and describing her as a hitchhiker picked up on the road between Sundance and Spearfish, South Dakota. Court documents allege that story unraveled when officers confronted him with sexually explicit messages and photos found on the girl’s devices.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, Renollet then changed his explanation and claimed he was helping the girl escape an abusive home and that the sexual exchanges were meant to keep her from harming herself. He also acknowledged knowing she was underage, though he said her age had varied in their conversations. Hodge said the case involved coordination among the Crook County Sheriff’s Office, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children unit, South Dakota authorities and federal partners.
Parents found hidden messages after noticing a change in behavior
Hodge said the Sundance girl’s parents noticed she had become secretive and withdrawn, spending more time alone in her bedroom on her computer instead of being around the family. Their concerns grew after her father took her phone and found sexually explicit material hidden inside a password-protected folder under a man’s name.
When the family discovered those messages in mid-July, they turned over the devices to the Crook County Sheriff’s Office, which brought in ICAC investigators. Hodge praised the parents for recognizing something was wrong and acting quickly. The teen had met Renollet on Discord while helping him work out bugs in a video game under development, according to the affidavit. Investigators say the relationship soon moved into private messages and video calls, including explicit exchanges and gift-giving that fit a grooming pattern.
Court documents describe gifts, money transfers and a grooming pattern
The affidavit says Renollet sent the girl items that included a ring, pillows, stuffed animals, earbuds, a phone holder and a Fanta soda through Walmart delivery. The teen also sent him $10 through a money app to help with a credit card payment, and she referred to him as her boyfriend. In the case file, the girl is described as believing they had a real relationship.
Renollet now faces charges in Wyoming that include grooming a minor for a sexual offense, a crime tied to a new law that took effect this summer. He also faces an additional charge in South Dakota and could face more federal charges. Hodge said the investigation is still active, but the immediate danger was removed when officers stopped the vehicle and separated the girl from Renollet.
A second Crook County case raised alarms about online contact with teens
Hodge said the Renollet arrest was the second recent incident in Crook County involving a suspected predator showing up to meet a teenage girl in person. The other case involved a 15-year-old girl from neighboring Moorcroft who reportedly met a man online and misrepresented her age, telling him she was older.
In that instance, Hodge said, the man turned around as soon as he realized she was underage. Even so, the sheriff said the fact that two separate girls in small Wyoming towns ended up in similar situations is troubling. Crook County schools already provide internet-safety instruction through a class called Freshmen Impact, but Hodge said he wants to extend that education to adults as well so parents and guardians are better prepared to spot warning signs.
Safety experts say grooming often starts with trust and isolation
Terri Markham, executive director and co-founder of the Sheridan-based nonprofit Uprising, said grooming is the deliberate process of building an emotional connection with a child or vulnerable person in order to control or exploit them. She said it can happen quickly or over a long period of time, and predators often look for emotional loneliness, unmet needs or practical vulnerabilities they can use.
Markham said online spaces where teens gather, including video games and Discord, can make that work easier because predators can blend in and build trust privately. She and Hodge both urge parents to stay aware of what children are doing online, who they are talking to and whether strangers can reach them through apps or games. Markham said adults should begin these conversations early, before children are fully immersed in technology.
Experts warn the risks can lead to trafficking, abuse and lasting harm
Markham said once a child becomes emotionally attached to a predator, the damage can be hard to undo. She described one Wyoming case in which a man groomed a 17-year-old girl for months and then sent her a plane ticket to California after she turned 18, only for her parents to stop the trip. She said situations like that show how grooming can lead into sex trafficking or other forms of exploitation.
She also pointed to a 2025 study from Thorn, a national nonprofit founded by Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, which found that one in nine teens had shared nude images online. Among those minors, 30% said they sent images to people they believed were adults, and 20% sent them to people they had only met online. Markham said the numbers show why families need ongoing, uncomfortable conversations about boundaries, consent and safety.
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