With the help of former Dateline NBC correspondent Chris Hansen, the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office conducted an online solicitation sting last month.
“We were able to lure 11 predators to a location,” says Sheriff Jason Ard, “and now those 11 are in jail.”
The sheriff’s office had deputies pose as 14-year-olds online.
They went into chatrooms posting messages in the group chats, in which they established that they were 14 years old.
The suspects then initiated private messaging with the decoys who they thought were 14 years old; and eventually, they made plans to meet at a specific location.
“Before they even get the location that they’re going to be coming to, they have a very clear understanding that they’re dealing with a 14-year-old,” says Sheriff Ard.
The LPSO Internet Crimes Task Force was established in October 2023 in partnership with the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office.
The task force was aided in the sting by Chris Hansen, who hosted a segment on Dateline NBC called “To Catch A Predator” from 2004 to 2007.
In those segments, Hansen confronted dozens of men who showed up at a house thinking that they were meeting a teenage boy or girl for sex.
He says he thought people would catch on after the first couple segments, but they didn’t – and they haven’t.
“Here we are 21 years this month from our very first sting operation, still seeing guys show up to try to exploit a child,” says Hansen.
Today, the concept is the focus of Hansen’s web series, “TakeDown with Chris Hansen,” which streams on the TruBlu streaming service that he co-founded.
Hansen says compared to 2004, there are now many more ways for predators to solicit children online.
“Today, the number of social media platforms upon which adults can approach children has exploded. I mean, I can’t even keep up with it anymore,” Hansen says.
Hansen was alarmed at the backgrounds of many of the 11 men who were arrested in the LPSO sting.
“A guy wanted to engage in a master/slave relationship with a child. (The guy) had been in the New Orleans police academy,” says Hansen. “We had a guy who worked in the school district. We had guys who worked in business with contact with people from all walks of life.”
Those arrested are:
- Kolin Alexis, 21, Baton Rouge (worked in the cafeteria at an East Baton Rouge Parish school)
- Julian Rish, 52, Baton Rouge (self-employed lawn care worker)
- Christian Median, 34, Harvey
- Taylor Hall, 31, Denham Springs (worked at a Sonic)
- Jonathan Moss, 26, St. Amant
- Carlos Humberto Aquilar Cruz, 24, Denham Springs
- Sergio Andres Badilla Rojas, 21, Baton Rouge
- Christopher Bernard, 53, Independence (worked at Crescent Crown Distributions)
- William Alexander Ruiz Ponce, 27, Covington
- Kenny Leonard Jr., 31, Baker
- Francisco Javier Villanueva Castro, 27, St. Helena
All are charged with indecent behavior with a juvenile, and all except Moss are charged with computer aided solicitation of a minor.
Villanueva Castro is also charged with attempted disarming of a peace officer and resisting a police officer with force or violence.
All charges are felonies.
Aquilar Cruz, Ruiz Ponce and Villanueva Castro also have ICE holds for allegedly being in the country illegally.
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