One of the men arrested as part of the Cleburne Police Department's online solicitation sting was James Hice, who is general council and risk manager for McCusker Holding Corp.
Each man thought he had been chatting with a 14-year-old girl online. On the other end was actually a detective.
"Within a few minutes of going online and setting up an identity as a child, we were talking to offenders that wanted to come meet us and have sex with us," said Cmdr. Adam King with the Cleburne Police Department.
Police say Himes sent messages including "As long as you're not a cop or affiliated with them and want to give me some that's fine with me," "I like young girls," "I am wondering if you would like to [expletive ] tomorrow, "and" Will you be nearly naked at 11? "
Police say Himes had arranged a time and place to meet for sex. When he arrived, he was
arrested.
The four-day sting operation involving the Johnson County Special Crimes Unit and led by the attorney general’s office was the first of its kind in the Cleburne Police Department’s history.
Tammy King, a veteran investigator and member of the Children’s Advocacy Center urges parents to be aware of their children’s online activity and to adjust their kids’ app. settings.
“These people have access to our children 24/7,” King said. “Parents need to understand about Instagram, Kik, Facebook and Snapchat, and MeetMe.com and all those things go that we see out there.”
King also expressed alarm that one of the suspects arrested had been carrying a gun.
"Well we had one show up with a gun,” King said. “A couple showed up with drugs, but the gun really bothered me ‘cause it made me wonder, what did he have in store for this child that he was expecting to pick up? Why did he need a gun?”
King’s final thought on the matter: “How many more are out there?”
