Fire captain is charged in sex sting

A Clark County Fire Department captain has been charged with using the Internet to meet someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl for a sexual encounter.

Martin Bernard Vohwinkel, 55, was arrested Friday by Henderson police in a parking lot where he was expecting to meet the girl, according to his arrest report. But the "girl" was a detective who had arranged the meeting after seeing a Craigslist.com ad for a casual encounter with a "very young girl," the report said.

Vohwinkel was charged with using technology to lure a child.

A detective saw the ad Thursday and sent an e-mail to the address given. Vohwinkel's e-mailed response indicated he wanted to have sex and was willing to pay, the report said. When the detective, pretending to be a girl, wrote that he was young, the response was the "younger the better," the report said.

In e-mails, the detective wrote "numerous" times that he was a 14-year-old girl, the report said. Vohwinkel sent two photos: one of him naked in front of a mirror and one of him in a firefighter uniform, the report said.

The two set up a meeting for Friday, and Vohwinkel offered to bring marijuana, the report said.

Police arrested Vohwinkel when he showed up at the parking lot in a Toyota Tundra with a firefighter sticker on it.

In an interview with detectives, Vohwinkel "admitted to making a mistake" but asked for a lawyer when pressed for details, the report said.

A home phone number listed for Vohwinkel was disconnected.

Vohwinkel, a 29-year veteran of the department, was placed on unpaid leave. He made $230,166 in salary in 2008, making him the 18th-highest paid county employee that year, according to county records.

Henderson police have used the undercover operation to arrest at least seven people on similar charges since it began a year ago.