Sheriff Salazar said an operation at a local hotel resulted in felony charges; one suspect allegedly had meth, emergency contraception and child porn evidence.
SAN ANTONIO — Five people are facing felony charges after an undercover operation targeting alleged online predators in Bexar County, according to authorities.
Sheriff Javier Salazar said his office worked with federal partners, including the U.S. Secret Service, during the sting operation at a local hotel. He said three of the suspects believed they were communicating online with teenage girls, but were instead speaking with undercover law enforcement officers.
One suspect, 48-year-old Lorin Gisseman, is accused of traveling from New Braunfels after allegedly believing he was meeting a 16-year-old girl, Salazar said.
Deputies said Gisseman arrived with an elderly family member who was waiting in a vehicle outside the hotel. Investigators said they do not believe the family member knew why he was there.
A second suspect, identified as 42-year-old Charles Richard Davis, allegedly traveled from the Houston area believing he was meeting a 14-year-old girl, according to investigators.
Salazar said deputies found 7.42 grams of methamphetamine and a Plan B pill in Davis’ possession. The sheriff also said investigators found evidence of child pornography on Davis’ laptop at his Harris County home.
The other suspects are 34-year-old Joseph Littlefield, 42-year-old Jeremy Gustafson and 41-year-old Jamie Gonzales.
Littlefield was a probationary firefighter with Bexar County Emergency Services District 2 until he was fired following his Wednesday arrest. He was taken into custody at his Boerne home after Salazar said authorities gathered enough evidence through his communications with undercover law enforcement whom he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.
“You think you’re hiring the right people, you think you know what they’re doing,” the sheriff said. “But at the end of the day, it just goes to show these folks are very, very good at hiding their double life.”
Gustafson and Gonzalez allegedly tried soliciting sex for money from whom they believed were adult women.
Salazar wouldn’t specify the platforms they were using, saying he didn’t want to give away the channels that law enforcement are monitoring, but said “the mainstream ones we all know about are all affected by this.”
Anyone who believes they may have been victimized by any of the suspects is urged to contact BCSO at 210-335-6000.