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When a man targets a 13-year-old on a chat app, Det. Tony Godwin races to snare him before it is too late.
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00:04The following program documents real law enforcement investigations of child sexual
00:09predators. This deeply disturbing content may be triggering for some viewers. Please watch with
00:14care. Subject is on the northeast corner parking lot. He's in a parking space. I got him. I got
00:26two underage boys for sex. He doesn't know he's walking right into a sting. Then, Detective
00:35Tony Godwin tracks a predator with thousands of illegal images on his phone. I'd like for
00:41you to please stand over here in the kitchen. We're going to search the house real quick.
00:44Have you ever looked at child pornography? I've come across it. And the team takes down
00:48a man trying to have sex with a 13-year-old girl. A team of police professionals in North
01:07Dallas has one goal. Take down online predators before they harm a real child. Child predators
01:16are everywhere. Online predators pose the biggest danger to America's children today. Kids are
01:23being targeted at an alarming rate. This team is opening its case files for the first time
01:29to show you how it tracks them down. All right, he's coming this way. And brings them to justice
01:36by any means necessary. This is Detective Tony Godwin and his team is...
01:51I grew up in a military family. We moved around a lot. At 17, I joined the army. By 23,
02:01I'd left the military and started tracking down criminals on the street.
02:06In 2005, I made Detective. And ever since, I've worked internet crimes against children.
02:11Now that I've got kids of my own, this work, it means everything. It's personal.
02:17There is nothing I'd rather be doing than saving kids' lives. I'm surrounded by a team of people who are
02:23just as dedicated as I am.
02:25So far, we've put away close to 200 predators. Most of them are serving 10 years or more. That's over
02:332,000 years of prison time. And we're not done yet.
02:36I call this my wall of shame. I put every one of these offenders behind bars. No two of these
02:42guys are the same.
02:43Every one of them has a story to tell. Take this guy, for example, James Wade King. This is the
02:49classic guy.
02:50It really took a team effort to get this guy into custody. But at the end of the day, it
02:55worked.
03:04February 13, 2020. Detective Tony Godwin waits in a parking lot for Wade King.
03:12The predator believes he's meeting a 13-year-old girl for sex. He's convinced she's into him after talking to
03:20her on the phone.
03:28In reality, the girl is an undercover police officer, and Wade King is walking into a trap.
03:48The cases I work, there's two kinds, proactive and reactive. In a proactive capacity, I'm putting myself online as a
03:56child in the hopes that a predator is going to reach out to me and talk to me.
04:00Social media platforms, gaming applications and sites, chat rooms, anywhere that kids are is where I put myself.
04:10Today, Tony is investigating a social media platform called Antiland.
04:16One of the things that they market is the fact that you're anonymous while you're on here.
04:21The age terms of service says you have to be 18, but there's kids all over it.
04:28I set up the vanity name as Dinosaurus13TX, which lets everybody in the rooms know that my name is Dinah,
04:36I'm 13, and I'm from Texas.
04:38And then just put myself out there and start to fish.
04:44Within seconds, I'm just slammed with messages.
04:48One user in particular, his name was Kingfish. He was very interested.
04:52Kingfish opens up with, how old are you? You ever talk to older guys?
04:56That is a huge red flag.
04:59When I tell him, I'm almost 14, what about you?
05:02Kingfish tells me, probably too old.
05:05I'm 45.
05:07A bunch of things run through my head.
05:09Like one, this guy's too comfortable talking to a 13-year-old kid about this.
05:14I can't put myself out there and lead someone into a sexual situation.
05:20Anything that got initiated by me would wipe my case.
05:24Developing the ability to speak like a kid definitely took time.
05:28I have honed that to a pretty decent skill set.
05:33I misspell things, I say words that to adults mean absolutely nothing, and that needs to be as realistic as
05:39possible.
05:39I want to see what direction he's going to take this.
05:42And I say, LOL, why wouldn't I want to talk to you, silly? You seem really sweet.
05:49Kingfish suggests we move over to SMS.
05:53I give him my cell phone number, and he immediately text messages.
06:00I introduce myself, and he replied, his name was Wade.
06:07Tony hands Wade's name and number to his coworker, Tavey Guthrie.
06:11She is a specialist in unmasking predators.
06:15I'm a digital investigative analyst.
06:18I've been doing this with Tony for about two years now.
06:21I am a little bit of a cyber sleuth.
06:24I started out as 911 operator.
06:27I really credit that to preparing me for what I do now.
06:33When I get a phone number, the first thing I do is just check our local database to see if
06:37we have any records with them.
06:38If they're in our system, then it makes it really easy because we've already verified an ID for them.
06:44So our guy is James Wade King, and this guy is a real winner.
06:53He's got prior charges.
06:56He's in the Dallas area.
06:57We've got false report, terroristic threat.
07:03Interestingly, no prior sex offenses, but I'm not sure if that's just because he hasn't been caught.
07:13My communications with Wade, they keep going.
07:16Wade begins to ramp things up.
07:21He wants to normalize sexual behavior,
07:24bring it down where a child would feel okay to have a conversation like that.
07:29And then he sends me a text.
07:33He's asking this child about having sex with a grown man.
07:37It's freaking disgusting.
07:40So I want to feed into his little fantasy.
07:42There's not one doubt in my mind.
07:44This guy is an absolute predator.
07:46He's got to be a real threat to a real child, and I need to get him.
07:50But I need him to make a mistake for me to do that.
07:57Wade decides to send me a photo of himself.
08:00It's a mirror selfie.
08:02The way he's posed himself in this photo to look like a teenage kid,
08:06even though he's a creepy old man, very sexually suggestive.
08:10And then Wade does what most of these predatory types do.
08:15He asks her to produce nude imagery or videos.
08:20Obviously, I can't do that.
08:21I don't look much like a 13-year-old girl.
08:24But fortunately, I do have access to people who do.
08:30I first met Tony about eight years ago.
08:34He came up to me and just said, you look pretty young.
08:37I must have looked so creeped out, like, who is this man?
08:40My coworker was with me, and she kind of gave me a little bit of backstory on him.
08:44And we got to talking, and he asked me if he could maybe use my photos or my voice to
08:51make a profile to talk to predators.
08:55To know that Wade is looking at these photos, it's just disturbing.
09:01But providing my photos to Tony means that these people are looking at a picture of me rather than a
09:08picture of a real child that would be really traumatized.
09:13Tony sends Wade a photo of Audrey taken when she was a young teen.
09:19I kind of make fun of my hair looking kind of crazy.
09:22I immediately say, yeah, I'm sure you don't really like this.
09:25And that's okay.
09:25You can just tell me.
09:26The fact is, I'm just trying to make him buy into the fact that I'm a 13-year-old kid
09:30with some low self-esteem.
09:32And then he replies immediately.
09:36You don't think bad of me, do you?
09:38Like, yes, I do think bad of you.
09:40You're a 45-year-old creepy dude chatting with a 13-year-old girl.
09:45That's a problem.
09:47All I got to do now is just reel him in because he's wrapped up in this fantasy.
09:56In order for me to get my hands on him, I have to put Wade behind the keyboard of the
10:01device with 100% certainty that he is the person that I've been communicating with.
10:10I get the break I need through Wade.
10:14The fact that he suggested to meet in person, he's just crossed the line as far as criminality and his
10:20intent.
10:21And so now that puts together a better case for me.
10:23So I tell him, I am available February 13th.
10:27I'm ready for that meet to take him down and arrest him.
10:31Tony's undercover profile, Dinah, arranges to meet Wade at an apartment complex.
10:42As we're set up for the takedown, Wade throws a curve ball.
10:48Wade wants to have a conversation on the phone.
10:52Tony calls me and he asks me if I can come help him.
10:56Use my voice to convince this man that he has actually been talking to a real child.
11:05Audrey prepares to call child predator Wade King.
11:09She must make him believe that she's 13 years old.
11:13I'm feeling like the weight is on my shoulders if he doesn't believe what I'm saying.
11:20The weight of this is not on you at all.
11:23This is just unnecessary evil.
11:26Audrey was full of nerves.
11:28I told her, you're going to do fine.
11:31Just keep it short.
11:32Keep it sweet.
11:36Hey, Colleen.
11:38You sound sweet.
11:40Oh, my God.
11:42I'm ready.
11:43I'm ready to see you.
11:46I'm coming in the morning.
11:49We're not going to get in trouble, are we?
11:51No, I'm just a little bit nervous.
11:54I'm very nervous.
11:57I'm not pregnant or anything.
11:59Oh, that's no, no, no, no, no, no.
12:03It always surprises me that as soon as the men hear my voice, they immediately have this
12:09sigh of relief.
12:10You can hear that their confidence builds and that they are much less nervous to actually
12:15come and meet up with me.
12:18So what time do you want me to come up there?
12:21Well, my mom leaves at like a little bit after nine.
12:24So I'm thinking like, I'll text you when she leaves and I want to take a shower and get
12:30all ready for you.
12:32Okay.
12:33Sleep good.
12:37Audrey nails it with the phone call.
12:40You did a fantastic job.
12:41Like I couldn't have asked for anything better because all he thinks about is the prize.
12:47And the fact that he thinks he's about to score with a real kid, you can just hear how
12:54assured he is.
13:00So the meeting is set for the next day.
13:02The location that I use is one that I have used many, many times over the years.
13:06It's a controlled environment for us because it's a one way in, one way out.
13:10It's a huge operation.
13:11A lot of moving parts, a lot of people, a lot of assignments.
13:15People have to be at the top of their game in order for it to happen and go down perfectly.
13:19And so that Wade doesn't know it's a trap.
13:23This is Detective Gunn.
13:24It's an online solicitation of a minor case involving a subject.
13:28James Wade King, white male, 524-64.
13:317.35 AM, I send King a message.
13:35What color is your car?
13:41I radio all that information to my team and now we're good to go.
13:46He just got messages from Wade.
13:49Our guys in the area, there should be a takedown commencing in just a few minutes.
13:55Takedown days are full of angst, concern, worry.
14:00I'm very demanding because I don't want it to go wrong.
14:05I will keep the camera rolling and see when he pulls into the complex.
14:1110-4.
14:13One of Tony's teams spots Wade's black car.
14:17He's heading your way.
14:19Standby.
14:21He just passed over at once.
14:24Sorry.
14:26Looks like he just pulled in the west entrance, so he's in the complex.
14:29He's pulling in, he's pulling into his spot right now.
14:33He's walked right into the trap.
14:36Start moving in, he's getting on the car.
14:39Blue jeans, white hair.
14:44Put hands up.
14:47Put hands up.
14:48Put hands up.
14:49Put hands up.
14:49Put the phone down, put the phone down.
14:51Put your hands on the car, I'll give him time.
14:53Put your hands on the car.
14:53Hi.
14:55Don't move.
14:56Hear me?
14:58Don't move.
14:58What have I done?
15:00I was pointing in a second.
15:01Come here.
15:02All right.
15:03Turn off the video.
15:04Subject in custody.
15:07We got him.
15:10My involvement with the case isn't even close to being done, because now I have to go interrogate him.
15:16It's my favorite part of the job.
15:18This case came to me as a report that there was something not right going on online involving a 13
15:27-year-old girl.
15:27He's got an open posture through a good portion of it, but you can just tell, like, he's got stress
15:32all over him.
15:33Like, he is freaking out inside, as he should be freaking out.
15:37Do you understand that?
15:38How long?
15:3913.
15:40He does, like, this Oscar award-winning performance.
15:44I'm just, I'm scared to death.
15:47He puts his hand on his face. Complete garbage.
15:51He's doing that for the camera and for no other reason.
15:56I'm just, I'm in, I'm in, I'm in shock.
15:59I want him to admit what he did.
16:01I want to put some closure to this.
16:03And so that's my goal.
16:04Yeah, I need, I need an attorney.
16:07You don't want to talk to me?
16:08No. No.
16:11Okay.
16:11That's your choice.
16:15You're going to be filed on for online solicitation of a minor for a child under 14.
16:24I can't talk to him any further.
16:26But that's fine.
16:27I know that I've got enough evidence against this guy to put him away for a very long time.
16:41There's one small piece of good news with this.
16:43King has been sentenced.
16:44He's behind bars.
16:45There's one less predator out there to prey on kids.
16:49Me and my team, we just move on and get to the next one.
16:53Because there's plenty more where that came from.
16:56April 7th, 2022, a tip-off leads Tony to a new target.
17:01He turns out to be a collector of some of the worst child sexual abuse material Tony's ever seen.
17:08Have you ever looked at child pornography?
17:10I've come across here.
17:10To bring him to justice, Tony must hit two locations at the same time.
17:16We have a search warrant for your residence.
17:18I need to see this, and I need to see that.
17:21A single misstep could give the predator the chance to destroy the evidence of his horrific crime.
17:32Jared Capizzi.
17:33This guy had one of the largest and sickest collections of child pornography that I've ever seen.
17:40This case focuses on the methods used by these predators when they're sharing child sex abuse material,
17:45and how we detect them doing it.
17:56This case begins on March 28th of 2022 when I receive a series of cyber tips.
18:02We call this a reactive case.
18:05Cyber tips are the benchmark for alerting law enforcement that there is online activities either involving some sort of exploitation
18:14involving a child,
18:15or child sex abuse material, which we call CSAM.
18:19A member of the public or one of the electronic service providers reports CSAM through the National Center for Missing
18:25and Exploded Children,
18:26which we call NECMEC.
18:28In this case, the NECMEC cyber tip relates to 31 files that were flagged and uploaded to a cloud storage
18:35system.
18:36NECMEC already identified the classification as a parent-child pornography.
18:42When I download the files, they are absolutely horrific, involving its very, very small prepubescent children.
18:49Anyone, in my opinion, who downloads this type of material is an absolute threat to children,
18:55and is someone that I'm going to put behind bars.
18:59And in this case, because it's provided in the NECMEC tip, I know who this target is, and his name
19:06is Jared Capizzi.
19:15To build the case against predator Jared Capizzi, Tony brings in trusted fellow detective Robert Galladay.
19:23We're academy mates. We've been the best of friends for over 30 years.
19:27He really does a great job on the forensic side of the house.
19:31The information search on Jared Capizzi brings up that Capizzi is a habitual offender.
19:37He has convictions for drug possession, forgery, fraud.
19:41He's also on parole. He's living at his mother's house.
19:44We didn't find any previous convictions for crimes against children.
19:54One of the big concerns we had with Capizzi is the fact that he has a child of his own.
19:59He has a son.
20:00Anyone who's in a position of trust or authority who has access or availability to a child pushes them up
20:06higher on the chain.
20:08I know Capizzi is our guy that has uploaded the 31 files from the NECMEC CyberTip.
20:14The problem I have is this. He has access to a cloud account on a device, which means he has
20:20access to a cloud account potentially on multiple devices.
20:24If I don't get all of those devices, Capizzi could remotely wipe that material from the devices that are in
20:31our possession.
20:31So it's vital that I get all of the devices at the same time.
20:38So the simplest way for me to get the most updated information about Capizzi is to reach out to the
20:44parole office.
20:46The parole officer tells me that Capizzi is doing great.
20:51He reports regularly. He checks in. He has a steady job with a construction company. He's living with his mom.
20:57The parole officer also tells me that he does not have his son living with him, that the child lives
21:04in another location with the mother.
21:07So luck is on my side. Capizzi is scheduled for a urinalysis test to be in compliance with his bond
21:16conditions or his parole conditions on drug use.
21:20And so I'm like, great. I know where he'll be. I know when he will be there.
21:26And now all I do is basically hatch the plan on how I'm going to get him and what I'm
21:30going to do with him.
21:32I need to get all of the devices from the mom's address. So this is going to be a really
21:36unusual takedown.
21:37I have to have teams at two different locations in two different parts of the city at the exact same
21:44time.
21:473.15 p.m. The operation begins. Tony waits to intercept Capizzi at the probation office.
21:55At the same time, Detective Galladay prepares to search his home. Timing is critical.
22:00What's really vital for me as far as coordinating goes is that I have my hands on Capizzi before the
22:08home is hit.
22:10But Capizzi is late. By 3.30, there's no sign of him.
22:153.40, my concern is growing. If I don't get all of those devices, Capizzi or really somebody else could
22:23remotely wipe that material, causing a big problem for me.
22:27At 3.45, the parole officer updates Tony that Capizzi has arrived.
22:38When Capizzi enters the room, we confiscate two phones in his possession.
22:45So the two phones are immediately handed off to another detective who's there with me.
22:51His responsibility is to get them to be processed.
22:53I'm going to have a chat about something, and I'll kind of explain to you what's going on.
22:59He has absolutely no idea why we are there.
23:04While Tony grills Capizzi, Detective Galladay executes the warrant to search his residence.
23:11Capizzi's mother meets the officers outside.
23:14She is unaware of what her son has concealed.
23:17My name's Robert Galladay.
23:19And we have a search warrant for your residence.
23:21And so that's what we're here to do is we're searching for computers, cell phones, and stuff like that.
23:29So what we're going to do is we're going to walk in the house.
23:31I'd like for you to please stand over here in the kitchen.
23:34We're going to search the house real quick.
23:35At the parole office, my interviewing and interrogation of Capizzi has started.
23:41Here's my card. I work internet crimes against children.
23:44I advise him of his legal rights.
23:46He waives his rights, he signs a document, and our conversation begins.
23:54Jared, so listen, when I tell you that I work internet crimes against children,
23:58does that give you any reason for why I would be contacting you?
24:05In the beginning, he's providing information, he's seemingly pretty chill.
24:09Do you look at pornography on your phone?
24:12Yeah.
24:12Adult pornography?
24:13Yeah.
24:13Have you ever looked at child pornography?
24:15I've come across it.
24:16Okay.
24:17And where would you be when you would come across it?
24:21I mean, I've had people send me stuff inadvertently that I didn't know that's what it was.
24:26Somebody sent me a link to their mega account or whatever,
24:28I saw a lot of stuff and I was like, oh, because I didn't want it.
24:31I mean, that's how I didn't ask for it.
24:32Capizzi makes an admission that he downloaded this random link,
24:36which contained a large amount of child sex abuse material.
24:42He frames it as though it was an inadvertent download.
24:47I know from my training, those are directed links,
24:51typically coming at a request of someone who's requesting this particular type of material.
24:56There's no point in him lying to us anymore.
24:59Just give it up.
25:00We already know.
25:02Detective Tony Godwin grills Jared Capizzi after a cyber tip revealed he'd shared CSAM,
25:09child sexual abuse material.
25:11What I'm talking about isn't a gray area.
25:14I'm talking about when you see it at a glimpse,
25:18you know automatically this is a very small young kid.
25:21Yeah, well, I haven't gone through all of it because you're literally,
25:24I mean, it's like thousands of pictures.
25:26The fact that it contained far more imagery than I even was aware of was a very telling statement.
25:33So you deleted that stuff or what?
25:36I still have to take it to my phone.
25:38I mean, I shouldn't have even shipped.
25:39I'm just lazy.
25:42Tony confronts Capizzi with the images that the cyber tip flagged as CSAM.
25:48Do you remember sending those pictures?
25:50Not all of those, no.
25:51Some of them?
25:52The ones that look familiar, you said.
25:55So you've sent those, and who did you send those to?
26:07The minute we go into interrogation mode,
26:10which is more pointed to the actual crime that I'm interested in,
26:15his tune changes considerably.
26:18So here's the deal.
26:20I told you we have a warrant to record anything electronic,
26:23anything capable of storing digital media.
26:26That's not only for here, you and your person,
26:29but it's for your own as well.
26:38When we go to the house,
26:40the mom's not very happy that we're there, obviously.
26:43That's because the police just barged into her house,
26:46and we're talking to tell her what her son has done,
26:49and she doesn't believe us.
26:52Holy .
26:53You obviously saw what the warrant is for?
26:55Yes.
26:56Okay.
26:57I cannot believe I knew this.
26:59He's already admitted to it,
27:00and admitted to downloading it, and sharing it.
27:03We start searching all the drawers, all the closets,
27:07under the bed, on the bed, everywhere we could look
27:09that an electronic device could be hidden.
27:12And we found two phones, three tablets,
27:15two computers, and two thumb drives.
27:18Detective Galladay uses digital forensic software
27:21to scan the recovered devices.
27:24The process takes 60 minutes.
27:27If CSAM is on them, the software will find it.
27:31So the special software we use when scanning these devices
27:34has identified over 2,000 items of child sex abuse material
27:40and over 8,500 images.
27:44Those images and videos found on Capizzi's device
27:47included the 31 files that were uploaded and sent to me
27:51through NECMEC and the Cybertip.
27:53At that point, we take him into custody and put him under arrest.
27:57Out of the 18-plus images I showed you, or more than that,
28:02they're on here.
28:04Which means I've got to take you with me.
28:05No, please, sir.
28:07Come on, man.
28:09Oh, I got him.
28:12I'm not saying what's this.
28:14I'm not saying what's this.
28:14I'm not saying what's this.
28:15No, I'm not doing it, man.
28:16Come on, shut up, man.
28:19Got it.
28:25If I go away, my mom is going to be my 80-year-old mother's
28:29and we left at home all by herself.
28:35My son's going to lose his father.
28:36Oh, my God.
28:37I can't believe this.
28:39He throws out the blame game,
28:41how now his mom's going to be alone,
28:42his kid's going to lose his father,
28:44and those things are going to happen,
28:45but it's because of his own actions
28:47that he doesn't want to take responsibility for.
28:49What the ****?
28:50I mean, I don't think of myself as a paraphernal.
28:53I'm not doing anything to kids.
28:55That imagery is the worst day of that child's life.
28:59It's a visual depiction of a child being exploited
29:03and sexually abused and molested.
29:06It's a day in the life of that child that never goes away.
29:12He is a predator.
29:14He is a monster.
29:15He damaged more children by sharing the material that he got,
29:21and he absolutely got what he deserved.
29:31That's him walking into the entrance now.
29:33July 27th, 2017.
29:37Tony and his partner, Detective Brandon Poore,
29:40are conducting surveillance in a North Dallas parking lot.
29:44They're monitoring a suspect
29:45who believes he's meeting two teenage boys for sex.
29:49He's confident enough to stop and buy condoms on the way.
29:54All right, he's out.
29:55He's looking hard.
29:56He's out in the front.
29:59His arrest is one of the most dramatic takedowns of Tony's career.
30:09The predator in this next case is the sickest dirtbag I've ever had the misfortune of dealing with.
30:16William Potter.
30:18This guy was prolific online and super cautious, too.
30:22To catch him, my coworker and I had to run two undercover profiles at the same time to lure this
30:28guy out.
30:35July 10th of 2017, I got a phone call from Brandon Poore, one of my colleagues on the task force.
30:42And he began to give me some details about target he's identified that was in my particular area.
30:49Brandon works undercover cases for a neighboring agency.
30:52I basically got him trained up, pointed in the right direction,
30:56and he hit the ground running and took off like a rocket.
31:01I joined the Crimes Against Children unit in 2014.
31:05I love the work.
31:06It's the best spot in the entire policing industry.
31:09It's the place where you get truly innocent victims and you make an impact for life.
31:20Detective Brandon Poore briefs Tony on a suspected predator he's found online.
31:27Brandon tells me that he had responded to a pretty crazy Craigslist ad.
31:33Okay, so this is the ad I responded to.
31:38I'm looking for a son that wants to play.
31:42I'm open to almost anything that feels good, including touching, body contact, cuddle, being , etc.
31:4918 to mid-20s is a plus, but open to all.
31:53Some problematic stuff in there, yeah?
31:56Boy.
31:57Yeah, the 18 to 20s, but open to all, that was enough for me to know.
32:01Yeah, he tries to be a little ambiguous, but it's pretty clear what he's looking for.
32:08I suspect he's had some success if he's so bold to put all that in there, you know?
32:15And you replied to this ad?
32:16I did.
32:21When I saw the ad on Craigslist, I created a profile of a young underage boy named Ethan
32:29and sent an email in response to his ad.
32:34He introduced himself as Joe Richards.
32:37I know from experience and just doing this for so long that Joe Richards is probably not his name.
32:44I told him I have a cousin.
32:47He told me that I should tell him I was 18.
32:51Putting in parentheses, hint, hint.
32:59It was clear in his communications that he wanted to do things that would be harmful to children.
33:04He is very dangerous.
33:09Knowing that he's in Tony's backyard, I call Tony and tell him we need to team up.
33:19On July 2017, I created a new undercover profile of a 14-year-old boy named Adam.
33:24And this is Ethan's cousin.
33:27I email Joe Richards as Ethan and make an introduction to my cousin.
33:33This is really unique.
33:36Two undercover boy profiles with the same subject.
33:40Joe Richards bites.
33:42I'm trying to just be kind of chill and coy and cool.
33:47But seem appealing enough that he'll want to continue to talk.
33:51So now I want to show that I am a vulnerable kid who's confused about my sexuality.
34:01The particular message about being discreet and secret, it's a huge red flag.
34:09I'm ready to see if this guy's interested in me.
34:13I do that by telling him, like, oh, hey, I told you, Ethan's coming to stay next week.
34:17He is very, very excited.
34:20He suggests that we meet July 27th of 2017.
34:26At this point, he thinks he's hit the lottery.
34:29He has scored so big in his own mind.
34:32He's going to have a sexual encounter with two boys at the same time.
34:36This dude is over the moon.
34:39What Joe asked me next kind of shocks me a little bit.
34:44He asked me to go shopping.
34:47Who does he think he is to get this kid go buy condoms for his own sexual assault?
34:54I tell him I'm afraid.
34:56He tells me that's fine, he will do it, but I have to pay him back.
35:00What a cheap ass.
35:02It just shows the real depravity of this guy's brain.
35:11We're trying to find out Joe Richards' real identity.
35:15We subpoena Craigslist.
35:17We get back a treasure trove of records, including postings that he's made for the last year.
35:23All very similar to the one that I responded to as Ethan.
35:27The true identity of the person who's made these posts is William Potter.
35:39Here's our guy, William Potter.
35:42We find out he was arrested by Waco PD on March 31st of 2017, and he was charged at that
35:48time with online solicitation of a minor.
35:51Investigators in Waco later dropped the charge, and Potter is convicted of no crime in relation to that case.
35:57At the time of that arrest, his computer and cell phone had been seized.
36:02We find out that this guy's been handled by three different agencies,
36:07so we want to make sure that we get our hands on him as quickly as possible.
36:13Tony is hunting suspected child predator William Potter.
36:17There's an exchange of messages between Potter and I about where and how to meet,
36:21and I suggest a local store that's down the street from my house.
36:26The reason I picked that particular store is he is familiar with the area,
36:30and it gives me and my team tactical advantage.
36:34We can sit up and watch and have the capability of doing a safe takedown.
36:39Guy asked Joe, like, how am I going to know if you're there or not?
36:43What are you in?
36:45And he describes a 1991 Pontiac Firebird with blue wheels.
36:49Really specific, really random car.
36:52Going to be super easy to spot.
37:01This is Detective Godwin and Detective Poore.
37:03This is the arrest of William Ross Potter, white male, 9-26-1957.
37:09Scheduled time of arrival is 9 o'clock.
37:12We don't have to wait long because he does not live far from this location.
37:18He's the only car on that road.
37:20Y'all can't miss him when y'all roll in.
37:22I'll let you know when he gets out.
37:25The subject is on the northeast corner.
37:28He's in a parking space.
37:29Looks like he will be, as expected, walking into the store where I have a covert officer.
37:34Potter sits in his car for just a minute, just assessing the situation.
37:39And at one point he exits the vehicle and he begins to walk into the store.
37:45That's him walking into the entrance now.
37:48Yeah, I'm walking out the parking lot, looking around.
37:50I guess he's looking for his targets.
37:58My covert officer, he's identified our subject on the aisle with condoms.
38:04I'll let you know when he comes out.
38:06If he does go to purchase the condoms, it's magnificent evidence it will be used against him.
38:13Standby, he's walking towards the front.
38:16Potter pays for the condoms.
38:18He's about to exit the store and be arrested.
38:23All right, he's out.
38:24He's looking hard. He's out in the front.
38:26I got him. I got eyes on him.
38:28Everybody get ready.
38:30As he exits the store, we are watching him.
38:35All right, he's almost to the car.
38:37I'd probably go ahead and get him to start rolling.
38:39What happens next is crazy to me.
38:42Hold on. Stand by.
38:44He's running.
38:46He's running.
38:48Oh, he's running.
39:00Potter is very unhappy about his arrest.
39:04He is moaning and groaning, making a big production.
39:07I have zero sympathy for him at this point.
39:13Mr. Potter.
39:14My name's Tony Godwin.
39:16This is Detective Poore.
39:18We want to have a conversation with you.
39:21We have to go through this rights waiver process.
39:24I'm not waiving any rights.
39:26I'm sorry?
39:27I'm not waiving any rights or anything like that.
39:29Well, that's your choice. You're a grown man, so...
39:32Here we go.
39:33When can I see a lawyer?
39:37That is totally on you, sir.
39:39Potter invokes his Miranda rights, which he's very entitled to do.
39:43It was wildly disappointing for me, for him to do that.
39:47I almost take it as a personal failure that I could not convince this guy to have a conversation with
39:54me.
39:54So, Potter is afforded an opportunity to use the phone, and does, and calls his wife.
40:00To accept this call, press 1.
40:03Call accepted.
40:04You can.
40:05Yes.
40:06Right.
40:08It's not the way I was kind of set up.
40:13I don't want to go downtown.
40:16I don't want anybody to know about this.
40:19I can't talk.
40:20I know you can't.
40:22I know I'm very, very upset.
40:26You shouldn't be.
40:28Well, I am.
40:31I feel bad for his wife.
40:34because her life just absolutely fractured in half.
40:38Her world just collapsed with this news.
40:41I feel for her because now she has no choice
40:45but to live with the actions of her stupid husband.
40:52My takeaway from the Potter case is he's just a bad guy.
40:56He wanted to meet a minor boy for sex no matter the cost,
41:00and it was clear that he wouldn't stop until we had to stop him.
41:15This case shows that predators like William Potter, they do exist,
41:19and that is why I do the job that I do.
41:25My team and I, we have one mission and one mission only,
41:28keeping America's children safe.
41:32To all the bad guys out there committing these crimes,
41:35you better sit up and take notice.
41:37The predator hunters are coming for you.
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