Read Across America Week at Hay Branch Elementary, Local sorority to host youth symposium in Killeen, Increasing Chance for Severe Storms Thursday | Central Texas Forecast, 3 skyscraper-sized asteroids making approach to Earth this week, Twelve arrested in Waco prostitution sting, Waco Police believe sexual assault suspect has other victims. Jonathon Alvarado, another ranch hand, tried but failed to rope the calf. Bell County residents, who suspect or have knowledge of human trafficking or are in need of assistance themselves, can reach out locally to Aware Central Texas at 254-813-0968 or can nationally report by calling the Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888, or by texting Help to 233733 (BEFREE). The aim of the operation was to rescue child victims as well as apprehend abusers who were trafficking illegal images and videos of children forced into sexual Please enter valid email address to continue. Officers responded to more than 700 messages from 73 different people in response to ads placed as part of the sting over two days. A 60-day sting operation conducted by law enforcement officers from several agencies netted the arrests of nearly a dozen suspects accused of committing crimes Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. that is degrading to another person. The backstory of what led to the arrests of Jones, a former sheriffs deputy and two ranch hands in May is chronicled in a stack of warrants obtained by NBC News. Teachers, firemen, nurses, and so that's extremely concerning in this particular operation. There are resources for Bell County residents who have knowledge of human trafficking or are in need themselves. Cecil Tim Morrison, a teacher at Marcus High School and the football teams offensive coordinator, resigned after his arrest for solicitation of a prostitute, according to the Lewisville Independent School District (ISD). During this weeks operation, one of the defendants negotiated a price but arrived with no money. A Harris County, Texas, precinct chief was among more than a dozen arrested Wednesday evening in an undercover prostitution sting operation, authorities said. "By targeting those involved in this crime, we hope to disrupt this activity and provide assistance to human trafficking victims by getting them connected to the advocates and resources they need," said Hayes. Baker, who declined to be interviewed, arrived to find Jones and his ranch hands loading the dead cattle onto a trailer to take them back to the P&M Jones Family Ranch. Fuchs said the investigation is ongoing and could result in more charges. It's not immediately clear which of the suspects listed below have obtained attorneys. Market data provided by Factset. person will not be tolerated. 11:30 AM on Jan 23, 2023 CST Updated at 11:54 AM on Jan 23, 2023 CST. The undercover officers placed ads that blended in with countless others found online, according to CBS News. Men looking to pay for sex who responded to the undercover adds arrived at the hotels in Frisco and Southlake only to find police waiting for them. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. At Least 36 Dead After Trains Collide Head-on in Greece: Indescribable Tragedy', LIVE RADAR: Severe T-Storm Watch Until Noon, Powerful Storms Forecast for Thursday, The Pandemic Altered Many Things, Including Alcohol AbuseThese Are the Warning Signs, Mickail Dukes, Manifestation of Prostitution Dallas PD, Brandon Froning, Possession of Child Pornography Dallas PD, Justin Peters, Possession of Child Pornography Garland PD, Noah Craver, Possession of Child Pornography Plano PD, Vincent Hammack, Possession of Child Pornography Plano PD, Joshua Drake, Possession of Child Pornography Wylie PD, Michael A. Newhouse, Jr. The men had arranged online to meet at the hotels intending to pay for sex, authorities said. Out of the arrests, 11 were charged with online solicitation of a minor, four with prostitution of a person less than 18-years-old, one charged with sexual performance of a child, and one with possession of child pornography. The Dallas area has a problem with sex trafficking, and authorities are using sting operations among other things to crack down. A Connecticut woman says her two 10-year-old German Shepherds, Cimo and Lieben, were shot, beheaded, and killed by a hunter from New York. If youre a special ranger and youre really interested in stopping rustling, you dont sneak out in the middle of the night and unload a bunch of cattle that you secretly microchipped, Simonsen said. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, in Jan. 2022, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Criminal Investigations Division (CID) conducted multiple Adult Prostitution Operations and Online Solicitation of Minor Operations throughout the West Texas Region. He later learned that ranch hand Cody Williams, 31, caught the cow, according to the warrants. Jones and his family members through blood or marriage have a tight grip on the local government, serving as judge, clerk, county attorney and constable. Under Texas law, grand jurors cannot be related by blood or marriage. Police arrested 23 people after an investigation at short-term rentals in Plano and Dallas. The Bell County Sheriff's Department says that the sting was part of a Human Trafficking Suppression operation in partnership with the Bell County Organized Crime Unit, the Fort Hood Military Police, and the Fort Hood Criminal Investigations Division. Randy Reynolds, the district attorney in charge of prosecuting felony cases, did not return phone calls. A youth pastor was among the 46 men arrested after an investigation revealed those suspected behind sex trafficking cases in North Texas, according to a report from CBS News. It is common practice for officers to engage in this behavior in a prostitution sting in order to gain the suspects trust and carry out the sting operation in Texas. Chance of rain 40%. So both forensically, reactively and proactively, we go after these individuals who are exploiting our children," said Detective Jeff Rich, with the Plano Police Department. The men face charges of solicitation of prostitution, a felony in Texas punishable with up two years in prison and a $10,000 fine, When you think of trafficking, you think of streets in Dallas or Fort Worth or strip clubs, said Agent John Perez, who oversees the North Texas Trafficking Task Force, part of Homeland Security Investigations. All rights reserved. Why try to catch him if it was so hard? The warrants allege that Jones and the ranch hands rounded up stray livestock in Loving and Pecos counties and sold them at auctions in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico without first notifying the Sheriffs Office to find their rightful owners a violation of a state law. She previously worked as a writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where she covered a bit of everything. He knows.. Anyone who is a victim or has information about other local sex trafficking cases is urged to call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text HELP or INFO to BeFree (233733). Soliciting prostitution used to be a slap on the wrist misdemeanor charge. And they are required to reside within the county, which has become a flashpoint since the Loving County justice of the peace in May sent four prospective jurors including Jones son and a county commissioner to jail on a contempt order for allegedly not living there. I positively identified the pair as being the same reddish-brown cow and calf I had released in Loving County, he wrote. This is one of many operations the Collin County Sheriffs have conducted. I applaud the dedication of these task force groups, including members of the Dallas Police Department, to bring these suspects to justice. Be Truthful. FRISCO, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) Federal authorities announced a major crackdown on prostitution that reveals sex trafficking in North Texas remains an ongoing problem. WACO, Texas (FOX 44) Twelve arrests have been made in a McLennan County prostitution sting. Miles is an award-winning reporter who has been covering North Texas for CBS 11 since 1996. Using information from informants, he expanded his investigation to include Leroy Medlin, a former Loving County Sheriffs deputy whod been fired from the San Antonio Police Department and was working as a part-time ranch hand for Jones. We'd love to hear eyewitness Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. John Perez with Homeland Security Investigations oversaw an operation involving undercover officers placing ads that blended in with countless others found online. Galveston police along with Texas DPS, Galveston County Sheriff's Office, and Homeland Security made 14 arrests with 16 total charges after conducting an operation to target online solicitation of minors and solicitation of prostitution. Officials have not divulged names of those arrested. Bell County Sheriffs Department released the identities of 10 men arrested on prostitution charges in a human trafficking suppression operation that concluded Thursday, according to a news release Saturday. Keep it Clean. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, co-wrote legislation with Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar to reauthorize the Abolish Human Trafficking Act, which provides tens of millions of dollars to law enforcement and social-service agencies to combat sexual exploitation. And then the ripple effect of that is we'll catch people that are making these types of offenses. These are individuals that we've told our children are safe. The arrestees of this operation are listed below: No, the sheriff replied, hed never gotten a report of stray cattle from anyone on the judges ranch, the records state. Threats of harming another In the past, we have heard public criticism to operations like this that amounted to this is just sex between consenting adults, Chief Deputy TJ Cruz said, but thats far from the truth., In a previous sting, we arrested an individual with body bags, duct tape, bleach in his trunk, Cruz continued. Nov. 2, 2015. In early January, they had a solid sighting on the nearby Wheat Ranch, owned by the family of a legendary wildcatter, J.J. or redistributed. Possession of Child Pornography Texas DPS, Michael Sinnreich, Possession of Child Pornography Wylie PD, Ernest Martinez, Possession of Child Pornography Abilene PD, Isaac Hernandez, Possession of Child Pornography Irving PD, Marcus Lugo, Possession of Child Pornography Abilene PD, Juan Juarez, Promotion of Child Pornography Wylie PD, Jesse McFall, Possession of Child Pornography Dallas PD/Denton PD, Eduardo Ramirez, Receiving/Possession of Child Pornography Plano PD, Jesse Giesbrecht, Receipt and Distribution of Child Pornography Seminole County Sheriffs Office/FBI, Ubaydah Fadel, Possession of Child Pornography Plano PD, Ivan Hernandez, Sexual Assault of a Child Dallas PD, Ralph Brooks Brown, Possession of Child Pornography Plano PD, Anthony Johnson, Possession with Intent to Promote with Prior Conviction Dallas PD, Nathan Abramovich, Possession of Child Pornography Wylie PD, JUVENILE, Possession of Child Pornography Wylie PD, Corey Smith Shaw, Possession of Child Pornography Plano PD, Nathanel Black, Possession of Child Pornography Irving PD, Steve Martin, Possession of Child Pornography Plano PD, Tracey Couey, Possession of Child Pornography Dallas PD, Ramiro Mendoza, Lara Possession of Child Pornography Irving PD, Charles Stanfiel, Possession of Child Pornography Abilene PD, Edward Rodriquez, Online Solicitation of a Minor Abilene PD, JUVENILE, Possession of Child Pornography with Intent to Promote Wylie PD, Shemar Green, Possession of Child Pornography and Transportation of Child Pornography FBI-Lubbock/Snyder PD, Cassidy Lush, Distribution of Child Pornography FBI Lubbock, David Espinoza, Possession of Child Pornography FBI Lubbock, Jonathan Paige, Kidnapping/Sex Assault of a Child Plano PD, Christopher Berger, Promotion of Child Pornography Dallas PD, Justin Wyly, Possession of Child Pornography Hopkins County SO, James Wilborn, Indecency with a Child Dallas PD, Thomas Dobbs, Possession of Child Pornography Abilene PD, Craig Schamberger, Online Solicitation Fort Worth PD, Jason Till, Production of Child Pornography Homeland Security Investigations, Pipino Alfredo Castelan Diaz, Solicitation of Prostitution o fa Minor, Irving Woods, Online Solicitation Fort Worth PD/Alaska State Troopers/US Secret Service, Demon Driver, Possession of Child Pornography Dallas PD, Joseph Sterle, Possession of Child Pornography DPS-Texarkana, Stephen Benzenhafer, Online Solicitation of a Minor Plano PD, Silvestre Diaz, Indecent Assault Wylie PD, Juan Blaylock, Possession of Child Pornography Dallas PD, Maximillian Arya, Possession of Child Pornography Dallas PD, Juvenile, Publish Intimate Visual Material Wylie PD, Gary Mathis, Promotion of Child Pornography Dallas PD, Anthony Garza, Misdemeanor Charge Lubbock PD, Haseeb Memon, Possession with Intent to Promote Child Pornography Wylie PD, Rit Tran, Distribution of Child Pornography, FBI Dallas, Javier Montano, Sex Abuse of a Child, Fort Worth PD. A week later, a Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association market inspector told Baker the cows had turned up at the Big Spring Livestock Auction in Big Spring, Texas, about two-and-a-half hours away. According to federal officials in the Dallas branch of Homeland Security Investigations, one of the 46 men was Fort Worth pastor Lamarcus Strickland. The operation was carried out by about 15 officers from the Texas City crime suppression unit, the U.S. Police arrested a youth pastor and a high school coach and teacher for racist or sexually-oriented language. But what do they mean? 10 men were arrested Wednesday and Thursday in a sting operation in Belton. 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