Guadalupe County officials arrested 14 online sexual predators in Seguin, recovering two human trafficking victims.
SEGUIN, Texas — 14 online sexual predators were arrested in Seguin over a three-day period. Officials also recovered two victims of human trafficking.
The operation was led by the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office, who worked with nine other agencies including the San Antonio Police Department, New Braunfels Police Department, Live Oak Police Department and the Converse Police Department.
“It’s a proactive effort where we specifically target, perpetrators that are attempting to solicit some type of sexual crime, and within that child solicitation of child sexual exploitation.” said Guadalupe County Sheriff Joshua Ray. “So our point of emphasis is the child predators, but we also catch sexual predators in general within the net of the investigation.”
Sheriff Ray stated in some instances, those predators believed they were talking to minors when they were actually talking to a detective.
“I can basically tell you that it was a location, that they were coming to solicit the type of activities that they were trying to encounter, in which, of course, were illegal,” he said. “And, we were prepared to apprehend them when they when they came.”
The 14 arrested, all men, were trying to target women as young as 14 years old.
“There’s a couple different methods and ways that they can do it,” Sheriff Ray explained. “It’s through social media. It’s through different applications. It’s through individual websites.”
The issue is a priority and is personal to the sheriff, who ran for office wanting to tackle crimes against children.
“You know, really they come in all shapes and sizes, right? I think they’re exploiting the most vulnerable people in our society, not only children, but just trafficking victims,” he said.
The sheriff is planning to conduct more operations not just in Seguin, but across the county.
“If people or perpetrators think they’re going to come into our county and get away with it, they’re playing with fire,” Sheriff Ray said. “I wouldn’t recommend coming here and doing those kind of things.”