Police nab 14 in online underage sex sting
Authorities arrested more than a dozen people, including a federal agent,that police said were trying to have sex with 13-and 14-year-olds, according to a statement released Thursday.
The men were identified by the Metropolitan Police Department as John George, 29, David PetersenMoore, 28, Jon Colquitt, 34, Manuel Vasquez, 23, Tyler Reed, 37, Juan Jurado, 29, Joshua Jivan, 42, Tomas Franco Valdovinos, 37, Ethan Fillmore, 20, Jonathan Graybill, 61, Ricardo Perez, 41, Abdul Ahmad, 45, David Freidhof, 26, and Curtis Schell, 19.
Undercover agents posed as 13- and 14-year-olds who talked to the men online, scheduling to meet on June 1 and 2. Police said the men were arrested when they arrived at the meeting location.
After his arrest, Jivan was determined to be a special agent of with Homeland Security Investigations, according a Las Vegas police arrest report.
During text conversations with the undercover agent, Jivan sent photos of himself and went by the handle “Anon.” He talked about having sex with the minor at a predetermined location.
Jivan claimed he was working human trafficking and trying to determine if the person he was communicating with was a real person. Police confirmed Jivan was acting on his own.
“The LVMPD would like to remind parents to discuss with their children the dangers of online chats with strangers,” Metro wrote in the statement. “Parents are encouraged to routinely monitor their children’s activity on social media and other online applications to prevent them from becoming victims of a child sex predator.”
Metro worked with the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the Nevada attorney general’s office and Henderson and North Las Vegas police.
Each man faces one count of luring a child for a sex act, according to court records and all but PetersenMoore had posted bail as of Thursday. PetersenMoore was being held on $10,000 bail.
George, Colquitt, Jurado, Jivan, Graybill, Perez, Ahmad, Freidhof and Franco Valdovinos had not been charged. George and Colquitt were expected to appear in court July 10, while Jurado, Jivan, Graybill, Perez, Ahmad, Freidhof and Franco Valdovinos were scheduled for July 11 hearings.
PetersenMoore, Vasquez, Reed, Fillmore and Schell had each been charged and were scheduled for preliminary hearings later this month and early next month.
Anyone who may have been victimized by the men or has information may call Metro at 702-828-3111.
Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter. Review-Journal staff reporter David Wilson contributed to this report.