Articles Tagged with undercover

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A patrol sergeant who has been with the Denton County Sheriff’s Office for over two decades was accused of soliciting sex from a minor with an online advertisement after he allegedly arranged a sexual encounter with an officer posing as a 16-year-old boy.

46-year-old Weston Jordan, a man who began his career as a detention officer and was promoted over time to the position of patrol sergeant, has worked with the Denton County Sheriff’s office for 25 years.

On Tuesday investigators began an in-depth examination of Jordan’s activities after gaining awareness of a Craigslist ad he allegedly posted seeking sexual relations with underage gay males. One of the investigators posed as a 16-year-old boy and contacted Jordan with a fake profile and using it to respond with interest, but he explained that he was without transportation.

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A Santa Rosa woman and her son were arrested on Friday for allegations that they were running a prostitution ring involving up to 150 women over a 10-year period of time. They are also suspected of using properties as brothels to employ women as sex workers.

59-year-old Fay Ruth Romesburg is an author of female-empowering erotic literature under the pseudonym F.R.R. Mallory, and she identifies herself as a feminist. She is the mother of 38-year-old David Scott Romesburg III with whom she shares a home and declared as dependent on the earnings from her writing career.

At the end of last year, Rohnert Park Police was notified by an apartment manager reporting suspicious activity leading them to believe that one of the units was being used as a brothel. One of the neighbors added to the complaint and stated that men visited the apartment regularly. The Santa Rosa Police Department had also been notified with similar information regarding a private home in their district.

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An Orwell, Ohio man attending Youngstown State University was arrested as the result of an ongoing local police department sex sting. The man believed that an undercover officer was a 15-year-old boy, and he allegedly pursued a physical relationship with the teenage imposter through online communication.

On December 5, 22-year-old Albert Maruna, IV began interacting with a person with whom he located through an online dating application. He was under the impression that he was interacting with a teenage boy. Over the course of a week he engaged in online conversation which turned sexual in nature, including descriptive messages about specific explicit acts he would like to perform together, and nude photographs. He is also believed to have developed romantic feelings for the boy based on the content of his messages.

In actuality Maruna was corresponding with an undercover officer posing as the teen in an ongoing sex sting operation. According to the police report, when the officer first informed Maruna that he was 15, Maruna stated that he does not believe in age, and he was comfortable with the situation as long as the boy was as well.

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From July 2011 through July 2014 a Lynwood physician allegedly prescribed narcotic prescriptions in large amounts and accepted cash payments for the transactions. The patients receiving the medication did not receive regular examinations and it is suspected that many of them did not have a medical need for the pills. He is accused of using his practice to make illegal drug deals.

Dr. Edward Ridgill has been accused of prescribing and selling considerable amounts of Norco, Xanax and Soma pills, which are dubbed the “trinity” by drug users due to the high achieved by consuming the opiate, sedative and muscle relaxer at the same time. It is reported that he handed out over 21,000 prescriptions during a three year period.

A DEA task force began an investigation on Ridgill employing anonymous sources who made appointments with the doctor and were fitted with surveillance cameras hidden inside of cups, buttons, hats and purses prior to their visits. The collected videos depicted the visits of the undercover mock patients where Ridgill prescribed and accepted cash payment for the drugs, and in some cases no examination was performed. Expert review of the videos and patient files raised enough suspicion to warrant charging 65-year-old Ridgill with several counts of illegal distribution.

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A Florida firefighter working with Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department was arrested on Tuesday for exchanging online messages of a sexual nature with a person that he believed was a 14-year-old girl. In actuality, the man had been speaking with an undercover detective impersonating the teenager for over three months.

In an attempt to better protect children from online sexual predators St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office launched “Operation Cruel Summer.” This project involves detectives posing as youth and visiting internet chat sites to engage in conversations with people seeking sexual relations with children.

The detective who purportedly spoke with 53-year-old David Eugene Labelle, the accused, had responded to an ad found online on July 27. Under the heading “Naughty Daughter,” the ad Labelle is accused of posting said, “Hi, how are you doing today? I would like to talk to you and let’s see what we can come up with. I have been looking for my naughty little girl. I am a 53 year old white married man.”

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The Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Task Force, comprised of the combined efforts of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and DA’s office, the FBI and the California Highway Patrol, shut down an alleged prostitution ring in a raid in Compton this Wednesday resulting in a total of 36 arrests.

As reported by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, 8 people were rescued during the mission including three girls who are purportedly commercially sexually exploited children, and five women who were identified as the possible victims of human trafficking. The children are currently being cared for by the Department of Children and Family Services.

Sheriff’s deputies working undercover obtained a large number of the arrests. 16 of the men were arrested for allegedly soliciting undercover law enforcement agents for sexual relations. Three additional men, 27-year-old Demario Bell, 25-year-old Damon Thomas, and 37-year-old Damien Henry were taken into custody for felony pandering after allegedly attempting to recruit undercover detectives to work for them in the commercial sex industry.

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According to prosecutors, 29 year-old Rico Christopher Clayton, of Carson, had allegedly recruited a woman to participate in prostitution on February 8th. He allegedly advertised her sex services online. On that same day, officers on the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force had responded to an online ad and arranged a meeting with the woman.

Clayton was allegedly seen dropping the woman off at a Fullerton motel where the meeting had been arranged with the undercover officer. Clayton had also allegedly made calls and sent text messages to the woman indicating that he was pimping her. Clayton was out on bail for another pimping charge in Los Angeles at the time.

He was charged on Monday with one felony count of pimping and pandering. He is facing sentencing enhancements for committing the crime while out on bail in addition to a previous strike conviction for burglary in 2007. If found guilty, Clayton faces up to 15 years in prison, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

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