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00:00The following program documents real law enforcement investigations of child sexual predators.
00:05This deeply disturbing content may be triggering for some viewers.
00:09Please watch with care.
00:12Next, Detective Tony Godwin tracks down one of the most dangerous predators he's ever encountered.
00:18If that doesn't scream kidnapping predator, I don't know what it does scream.
00:23You would have taken her to the hotel?
00:24No, no anymore.
00:25I have a hard time believing that.
00:27I know you don't believe it, but I know my skills.
00:29Then, Tony teams up with the FBI to go on a manhunt for a predator who wants to have sex
00:35with a 10-year-old.
00:38What'd you send in between your face and body pic?
00:41Pics of sexual acts with each other.
00:45Bing!
00:46And later, a cunning predator uses role play to hide his desire to meet up with a 14-year-old
00:53girl.
00:54Let's go, go, go.
00:56Go, grab!
00:57A team of police professionals in North Dallas has one goal.
01:02Get out of the corner!
01:03Take down online predators.
01:05And four, they harm a real child.
01:08Child predators are everywhere.
01:10Online predators pose the biggest danger to America's children today.
01:16Kids are being targeted at an alarming rate.
01:19This team is opening its case files for the first time to show you how it tracks them down.
01:26All right, he's coming this way.
01:28And brings them to justice by any means necessary.
01:32Okay, look, God.
01:34This is Detective Tony Godwin and his team is the Predator Hunters.
01:42It's May 2022, and Tony is on the hunt for one of the most depraved predators he's ever come across.
01:50Thank God it's me he sent it to and not a real 13-year-old kid.
01:55It's disturbing on every level imaginable.
01:59But when he attempts to arrest him, the Predator throws Tony a curveball.
02:05The fact that we have to move from plan A to plan B, it elevates the risk level.
02:11And when it's time to face justice, he lays out his crimes in a letter to the victim's family.
02:17It's rare that I pull this card and play it.
02:20This is nothing but an evidence of slam dunk for the case.
02:25Juan Menchu.
02:26This guy looks like a normal guy in his 30s.
02:29But evil hides in plain sight sometimes.
02:32This dude sent a video of himself masturbating to what he thought was a 13-year-old girl while she
02:38was in school.
02:40Unbelievable.
02:41My two colleagues, Tavey Guthrie and Norman Gonzalez, they helped me take this guy down.
02:51On May 17th of 2022, I began an online undercover proactive investigation on an application called MoCospace.
03:00MoCospace is a social media platform.
03:03It allows users to share messages privately or in a group.
03:08So I started off by making a MoCospace profile.
03:11I set up the girl named Katie.
03:13She's 13 years old.
03:14I use a profile picture of one of my colleagues who's given me consent and permission to use pictures from
03:20when she was that age.
03:21I can't show that photo because it's part of other ongoing investigations right now, which could be compromised if I
03:27released it.
03:2913 is a specific age that I picked because in Texas, if you commit a crime online against a child
03:36that's under 14, it's an enhancement.
03:38It moves it from a third degree to a second degree felony, which just gives somebody more time in prison
03:43if convicted.
03:45Once I have the profile established, I get tons.
03:48I mean, probably close to 100 friend requests.
03:51I get instant messages coming to me.
03:54One of them kind of stood out.
03:55His name was Diablito, Little Devil.
03:58And that really caught my attention.
04:00You're so beautiful.
04:02It's a huge flag for me.
04:04I go to Diablito's profile to document that for evidence.
04:08It says he's a 31-year-old male from Austin, Texas.
04:11On initial thought, I'm thinking, hey, he looks like a normal dude.
04:14I wanted to ensure that he remembered I am a kid.
04:18I send him a message.
04:20Hey, I'm almost 14.
04:21Is that OK?
04:24And he replies back, it's OK with you.
04:26It's OK with me.
04:27We don't do anything bad.
04:29We just talk.
04:30The behavior itself is super shady.
04:33This guy clearly knows he's talking to a 13-year-old.
04:37He's clearly living up to his name, the Little Devil.
04:42He then says, how about you text me?
04:44And he gives me a phone number.
04:46Like, boom, just like that.
04:47This is really predatory behavior.
04:54Diablito sends me a message.
04:56Good morning.
04:56It's me, Vin, or Diablito from MoCo.
04:59I've got a phone number.
05:00I've got a potential first name or a portion
05:02of a first name.
05:04Things are rolling really quickly, and I like it.
05:06I have my analyst, Tavey Guthrie, to help me dig in and figure out who this guy is.
05:12It's amazing that Tony's been able to get me this phone number as fast as he has.
05:15So now I've plugged this number into some of our databases,
05:18and it's given me a lot of information back.
05:21Tavey's research reveals Diablito's real name, Juan Vicente Menchu Akpacaja.
05:28So now we know Vin's full name and date of birth, 920 of 90.
05:32And we also found out that he lives about 180 miles outside of Dallas in Austin, Texas.
05:40He also does not have a vehicle registered to his name.
05:45I'm going to need to let Tony know about that.
05:51So over the next couple of weeks, Vin and I, we are texting back and forth a whole bunch,
05:55and his texts are getting more and more sexualized.
05:59He sends me this message.
06:00You just make me feel so horny right now.
06:03Huh? What?
06:08He said, I just imagine how I'm going to kiss your body and do it so slowly.
06:13What a romantic, huh?
06:15He asked me, where are you at right now?
06:17And I tell him, I'm in class.
06:20Within seconds of telling him I'm in class, he sends me a video of himself masturbating.
06:27Thank God, it's me he sent it to, and not a real 13-year-old kid.
06:32I mean, it's disturbing on every level imaginable.
06:36I could pursue with an arrest warrant, but in order to get him across the line with a higher charge,
06:45I need him to arrange a meeting in person for a sexual relationship.
06:49And when that happens, I need to have a ton of my people behind me to get him in custody
06:54and arrest him.
07:00I mean, a little less than three weeks later, I get a message back from Menchu.
07:10And what happens next is he says,
07:13how about Monday?
07:16As soon as he gets here, I'm going to lock his butt up.
07:22Tony brings in Detective Norma Gonzalez for the takedown operation.
07:28It's always been a passion of mine since I was like five years old, wanting to be in law enforcement.
07:32I feel the satisfaction of working those kind of cases.
07:35It's just the victims.
07:36They don't have a voice.
07:38They're the most defenseless victims that are out there.
07:41I'm usually part of Tony's takedown team,
07:43and he posts us in different streets around the apartment complex.
07:48Once the vehicle come in the apartment complex, we come in behind them.
07:52We don't know what he's driving, but we know what he looks like.
07:55So that's kind of what we're looking for.
07:57The person driving the vehicle, is this our offender coming into the apartment complex?
08:097.58 a.m.
08:11This is an investigation of online solicitation of a minor.
08:16A scheduled meet has been set by the subject of this investigation,
08:20Juan Vicente Menchu.
08:24Biggest hurdle we have is Menchu does not have a vehicle registered in his name that we have found.
08:30And that presents really big issues for us.
08:33We are really, like, on a wing and a prayer.
08:37Everybody's looking.
08:38Everybody's calling out different vehicles.
08:40It's so chaotic.
08:42There's far more radio traffic.
08:44It's a lot to process.
08:46We're at a little bit of a disadvantage, but we have covert units all over.
08:52Close by are more than a dozen uniformed and plainclothes officers.
08:56But when he's minutes away, he shifts the goalpost.
09:00He just texted indicating he was 11 minutes away and for who he believes to be a 13-year-old
09:07female
09:07to meet him at the gas station next door to the apartments.
09:13It's a nightmare scenario.
09:15The fact that we have to move from plan A to plan B, it elevates the risk level.
09:21This predator is one slippery customer.
09:24He could go there.
09:25He could see someone, a child, that looks like Katie, which really presents a very huge problem.
09:31He could see the cops coming in to get set up for the potential meet with him.
09:36There's so many variables I have to think about and consider.
09:43Tony and his takedown team redeployed to a gas station to intercept child predator Juan Menchu.
09:50One problem, he won't tell them what car he's driving.
09:55How do we know where to put people?
09:57How do we know who to go and approach?
09:59How do we know when to move in if we don't know what we're looking for?
10:03Menchu sends me this message.
10:06I ask him yet again, what color car?
10:16I'm flipping out at this point.
10:17I'm wondering, is this guy ever going to tell me what the hell kind of car he's in?
10:24Finally, he comes back and tells me he's in a white car.
10:27Why does it have to be so difficult?
10:30Now, knowing what the vehicle looks like gives us more than an advantage.
10:33We sit in our vehicle, try not to be seen, and we just wait for them to give us the
10:38okay of,
10:39you know, hey, we have eyes on them, everybody move in.
10:41So right before me as Katie is about to walk across from the complex to this gas station,
10:48Menchu sends the creepiest message ever and says, I'll be at the gas pump.
10:55The door's unlocked.
10:58I need you to get in the back seat and cover up with a jacket or blanket that's in the
11:02back.
11:04If that doesn't scream, kidnapping, predator, I don't know what it does scream.
11:08The weirdest, bizarre request I've ever gotten from a predator, ever.
11:13I give the order to take him down.
11:28My boss hands me Menchu's cell phone.
11:31He had that in his hand when he got out.
11:33Even better.
11:34That phone is really important in this case because that's going to hold all the chats
11:38between he and Katie.
11:40MC.
11:42You got any guns?
11:43No, MC.
11:44You got any guns at all?
11:45No, sir.
11:45Huh?
11:45No.
11:46Nothing at all?
11:46No.
11:49Where was your key at?
11:50To your car?
11:51I'll put it in the seat.
11:52What's this right here?
11:53Um, when a motel key is found by the arresting officer, you could pretty much glean from that
12:02that his intentions the whole time was to take Katie back to a hotel to perform whatever
12:06sex acts he had envisioned.
12:14All right.
12:16Uh, we met out there at the scene for a moment.
12:18Uh, my name's Tony.
12:20Thank you, my guard.
12:22Why do you think you're sitting here today?
12:25Let's just talk to this girl.
12:27Yeah.
12:27She want me to come over the kid when you come over.
12:29What's her name?
12:30What's the girl's name?
12:31I forgot her name.
12:32Okay.
12:32Yeah, I forgot her name.
12:33But you don't remember her name?
12:35Um, no.
12:38Do you know how old she was?
12:39No.
12:40You sure?
12:41Yeah, I'm sure.
12:42I think she didn't forget it.
12:43What if I told you she's 13?
12:46Okay.
12:47She's 13.
12:50Do you remember that?
12:52I think so.
12:53Yeah.
12:5314.
12:54I probably know more about this than you think I do because the way it was reported to us,
12:59like I've seen a lot of the conversations that you had.
13:03Did you send her any nude pictures?
13:05I don't think so.
13:05Did you ever send her a picture of your private?
13:09I don't think so.
13:10I'll forget.
13:11You sure?
13:11Yeah, I'm sure.
13:12Okay.
13:15So, some of the communications that I saw, you talked about obviously having sex with her.
13:21Uh, yeah, but no, you know, like, I tell her, like, I'm nervous, I don't want to and everything.
13:28He told her you didn't want to?
13:29I want to, but I don't want to.
13:31Oh, you want to, but you don't want to?
13:32Yeah, yeah.
13:33That's what I tell her.
13:34I mean, like, I'm scared, you know?
13:36He acknowledges that, yes, he talked to this child about having sex.
13:40I did, of course, I want to do it, but I'm nervous, I'm scared.
13:43Yeah, you're scared.
13:44If we hadn't have showed up and that girl would have gotten in the car, you would have taken her
13:48to the hotel?
13:49No, not anymore.
13:50Well, be honest now.
13:52I'm honest, no.
13:53I'm honest, I swear to God.
13:55I'm not.
13:56I have a hard time believing that, but you're telling me that wasn't going to happen today?
14:02No.
14:02If the police hadn't come in and she showed up?
14:04Yeah, it doesn't matter.
14:05Yeah, that's...
14:06I don't know, man, I have a hard time believing that.
14:08Yeah, I know you don't believe it, but I know myself.
14:12At the end of the day, I think he would have happily followed through with his promises
14:16had the cops not scooped him up.
14:18Now, I do something kind of unusual.
14:21If you could say something or write a letter to her parents to say anything,
14:27is that something you'd like to do?
14:28I wouldn't do it.
14:29You wouldn't do it?
14:30I wouldn't do it.
14:31You wouldn't do it?
14:32I mean, I can give you a paper and a pen and you can write something out if you want.
14:35It's rare that I pull this card and play it,
14:38but I do because of the way the interview was going.
14:42And his back and forth, you know, BS excuses for things.
14:48I am surprised that he agrees to do it.
14:51This is nothing but an evidence-based slam dunk for the case.
14:58In summary, this is what it says.
15:00Hello, my name is Juan.
15:02The reason for this letter is to apologize for inappropriate thoughts I have with children.
15:08I'm very happy that you guys are there to care for your daughter.
15:11I ask for your forgiveness to be here in this situation.
15:24After a forensic review of his device, we found no CSAM and no other communications with other children.
15:31I was really not pleased with the sentence.
15:34I felt like he deserved far more time.
15:37I have to sort of let it go and release it because I'm looking for the next guy to put
15:43in prison.
15:43January 2023, a predator tells an undercover FBI agent that he wants to have sex with the agent's daughter.
15:52The fact that he's interested in sex with a 10-year-old child catapults this guy to one of the
15:58highest risks possible.
16:00When Tony catches up with him, he pushes to get to the truth.
16:09How long have you had a sexual interest in children?
16:16Justin Peters, this case, this one really stuck with me.
16:19This guy said he regrets kind of going into these online forums, yet he was there to engage in a
16:26sex act with a 10-year-old.
16:27A 10-year-old.
16:29Thanks to the work of a special agent in Philadelphia who made a referral, Jen and I were able to
16:34track this guy down and stop him before he acted with a real kid.
16:44It's January 2023.
16:46This case begins when FBI special agent Jennifer Mulliken reaches out.
16:50Hi, Tony.
16:51Superstar, how are you?
16:51I'm good.
16:54So this is a lead that was sent to me from an agent in Philadelphia.
16:57He was an undercover persona on Kik.
17:01Kik is a social media platform for mobile phones only, and it is littered with predatory types, not just in
17:10a chatting room, but in a child sex abuse material being openly shared and traded.
17:15So our undercover agent was a dad offering of his 10-year-old daughter.
17:19Oh, dirty dad.
17:21Offering of a child we know sounds shocking and sickening.
17:23Yeah.
17:24It does happen.
17:26That's a ploy we use, and when it works, it pays off with dividends.
17:34Tony and Jen analyzed the Kik conversation between an undercover FBI agent and a suspected child predator.
17:42This user is X-Punk Trash.
17:45Pretty sick one.
17:47Our undercover agent was a dad offering up his daughter, and X-Punk Trash jumped on it.
17:52In a room or a group or something?
17:54It was a group chat.
17:54Oh, okay.
17:55Then they transitioned to one-to-one chat.
17:57Oh, so that means it's going to be really, really horrible stuff.
18:01Files, I guess, were exchanged?
18:02Files were exchanged.
18:03The first group that they were in was Lolita Caesars, and then they transitioned.
18:07Oh, look at that hashtag.
18:09Map CP Kids.
18:10Man, I know where this is going.
18:12In the child exploitation world, MAP stands for Minor Attracted Person.
18:17And Lolita is representative of a little sexualized girl.
18:22They create these terms to avoid detection from not only the platform,
18:27to also avoiding detection by law enforcement.
18:30So our undercover posts in the group chat,
18:33and then he's immediately contacted by Punk Trash.
18:35And they transition to one-on-one chat messaging with each other.
18:39So you have stuff with your daughter?
18:41That's pretty hot.
18:42Not going to lie.
18:43Our undercover says, to clarify, I don't keep it.
18:46I let others bang while I film.
18:48Offering up a child we know sounds shocking and sickening.
18:51Yeah.
18:51It does happen.
18:53Remember, this undercover officer is playing a role.
18:56It's a tactic that works to find predators.
18:59Trash Punk says, I'd love to see you or be involved.
19:02How young is she?
19:05And our undercover says 10.
19:07How young is your daughter?
19:09I guess that's a pretty telling thing on what he's looking for or wanting to do.
19:14So what comes next is,
19:16if you're legit and near Philly, it's all good.
19:19And then that's when X-Punk lets him know that he's in Texas.
19:23I've got to get this guy identified.
19:27Tony scours the chat transcripts for clues that can reveal the identity of X-Punk Trash.
19:33The FBI agent, he asked Punk Trash to verify.
19:39Verification when you're in a group means you have to upload some sort of contraband to be validated as legit
19:48and not law enforcement before you're able to see and download additional content offered by other members.
19:55So the agent is expecting CSAM, but that's not what he gets.
19:59He sends a photo of himself thinking that'll verify.
20:03It kind of tells me this is probably our real guy.
20:07As things stand right now, this guy really hasn't committed an offense yet.
20:11And so the agent needs to make sure that this guy is the predator that he thinks he probably is.
20:18And so he's like, I don't want to see a picture of your face.
20:21I want you to verify the usual way.
20:24Think of the group that you're in.
20:27Punk Trash sends four images of very, very graphic child sex abuse material.
20:34I mean, really young stuff, toddler age, horrible.
20:38Under our penal code in Texas, that's a felony.
20:42What the agent does next is really smart.
20:46He asks Punk Trash if he's ever played in real life, which means, have you done a sexual offense with
20:52a real kid?
20:55And Punk Trash says he has.
20:57He's done something with a 14-year-old boy.
21:03That's the most crushing blow that could be given to me.
21:07Somebody had an opportunity to prevent that and failed to do so.
21:11And as a result, a real kid is victimized.
21:17The FBI agent, he sends a subpoena to Kik to get the subscriber information on the Punk Trash account.
21:23The Kik return comes back with an email address.
21:26I do an open source search on the email address from the Kik return, and I discover a Discord page
21:33and a Spotify account, and both of those are under the name Justin Robert Peters.
21:38Now I've got a name tied to Punk Trash.
21:42I run that name through a police database.
21:46I come up with a physical address and driver's license photo, and that photo, compared to the uploaded selfie sent
21:52to the agent in Philadelphia, are a 100% match.
21:58In my mind, this guy is an immediate danger to children.
22:01And now I have an idea of where he lays his head at night.
22:105.30 a.m., Tony and his team prepare to raid the home of Justin Peters.
22:22They must be ready to react if the situation turns volatile.
22:34Police!
22:37Don't let your dog out!
22:38We never know what we're going to encounter on the opposite side of the door.
22:49It's definitely heart-stopping when you knock on the door, and then you hear dogs barking.
22:56The door is set back several feet, and what we call that in law enforcement is the fatal funnel.
23:01Because if you're going to get engaged with gunfire, that's where it's going to happen.
23:05And so the object is to knock in an ounce and then get out of that fatal funnel.
23:12Oh, that sounds like a big dog.
23:16Detective Tony Godwin hunts for predator Justin Peters at his last known address.
23:23Come on, Lace.
23:24Yeah?
23:24The one outside.
23:25Where's your dog at?
23:26Oh, she's in the room.
23:27Okay.
23:28I just don't talk to her.
23:29First thing, is anybody else in the apartment?
23:31No, no, no.
23:31No, no, no.
23:35No, no.
23:36Trying to give problems to his mom, because she has nothing to do with this.
23:40But why would you?
23:42Because we have a search warrant for your residence.
23:44For what?
23:44For your son.
23:45Where is he?
23:46My son?
23:48My son's not here.
23:50Where's Justin?
23:52I need to know that he's not going to get tipped off, that the cops just went through his door.
23:57And so time is of the essence for me.
24:02What's going on?
24:03I have a search warrant for your apartment.
24:05Right, right.
24:05I know that, but for my son.
24:07But what did he do?
24:08Well, I'm going to talk to you about that, but we need to have a conversation first.
24:12You just said my son, I thought you were going to tell me he's dead.
24:14Oh, no, no, no, no.
24:15So, what?
24:16I'm okay.
24:17It's child related.
24:18That's why we're here.
24:19Oh, my God.
24:21Yeah, that's why we're here.
24:23That's disgusting.
24:25I agree.
24:27Justin's mom doesn't know her son's whereabouts.
24:30Tony's team shifts gears to trace him another way.
24:35I get word back that Justin is in East Dallas.
24:39I put a part of my team on finding Justin, and they tell me, like, hey, we found the location.
24:45He's not here, but he's told his friends that he walked to a job interview.
24:49He's inside of this local business, and he's filling out an application for employment.
24:54So, I tell him, hold the front door.
24:56We're on our way.
25:02Hey, we're about to turn the house for you now.
25:04I thought they said he's walking.
25:05I thought he walked here to get a job.
25:08As we're driving to the location, Tony and I are developing a game plan.
25:14I thought you said he was in the house.
25:16Yeah, he's in a waiting room right now, but I'm at the front door.
25:24We're trying to get there as fast as we can, because we don't want the offender to look outside
25:28and see that there's a cop in the parking lot.
25:37Because you're ready for this to be done.
25:39We're ready to get our hands on our target.
26:00When I tell him he's under arrest and he asked me what he did, I so badly want to just
26:05tell
26:06him you're a pedophile, I got you, you wanted to go have sex with a child in Pennsylvania,
26:11but I can't do that.
26:13He's oblivious at this point.
26:14He doesn't have a clue.
26:19Time to play nicey-nice with this guy, right?
26:21Yeah.
26:22Kind of soft-soap him a little bit, see if he's going to open up and talk.
26:26Justin?
26:27Yes, sir.
26:28Hey, my name's Tony.
26:29Yes.
26:29This is Jen.
26:31I need this guy to tell me exactly what he did and what he intended to do.
26:35I'm not going to give up until he does so, and if I've got to get mean and hard with
26:39him,
26:40I will.
26:41Well, you had a particular conversation with someone in another state.
26:45Remember that?
26:47Pennsylvania?
26:49Yeah, I do.
26:50What do you remember about that?
26:53I remember talking for a little while, but...
26:56About?
26:58Do things with the kid, and I was in a dark place, so I kind of fell into it, and
27:05I had
27:07shown interest in it, but then I had gone after a little while of talking to them, and
27:14I felt weird, and I got off the app.
27:17In one realm, he's trying to seek out words that do not make him sound like a pedophile
27:24when that's what he is, and the other side of him is he's so shell-shocked that I know
27:30about this information, he can't even formulate a thought.
27:34How long have you had a sexual interest in kids?
27:39Not...
27:39No.
27:40Look at me.
27:40Not...
27:41Look at me.
27:41Okay.
27:42How long have you had a sexual interest in children?
27:47Look at me.
27:48I'm...
27:48How long?
27:49Maybe within the last year or so, it's really started to...
27:54Right.
27:55That didn't hurt, right?
27:57We're just...
27:58I know, I'm sorry, I'm scared.
28:00You don't have to be scared.
28:01We're not here to hurt you.
28:02We're not here to help you.
28:04I'm just...
28:04I've never...
28:05It's just...
28:06So you've had a sexual interest in children for maybe a year.
28:10What got you there?
28:14I just wanted to get help, but I didn't...
28:16Well, getting help isn't going into a chat group...
28:18No, no, no, I know, but that's not...
28:21That's not getting help.
28:22No, I know.
28:23That's...
28:24That's acting out on your thought process.
28:29I think the problem is I wanted to seek out help, but I didn't know how to go about that
28:34because I don't want to be viewed as like...
28:36Well, here we are.
28:37Yeah, I know.
28:38Here we are.
28:40He's trying to come up with these excuses.
28:43This guy's an absolute pervert.
28:44He's in a chat room trying to make arrangements to have sex with a 10-year-old kid.
28:48He's absolutely not looking for help.
28:50He's looking for like-minded individuals.
28:59Peter's case is very disturbing, but one takeaway parents have is that online predators have
29:05a tendency to use code words or little emojis to represent certain things.
29:09Something simple, like a slice of pizza, is a representation for child pornography.
29:13The term cheese pizza is also another code word for child pornography.
29:19Educate yourself and your kids because things may not be as innocent as they appear.
29:25Yeah, 10-4, he is backing into a spot right by the mailboxes right now.
29:29Detective Tony Godwin is hunting a predator who is advertising online for a daughter.
29:35He's looking right in my direction.
29:37He calls it role play, but it's pure depravity.
29:41And now, he's about to face the full force of Tony's takedown team.
29:52There's a small group of predators that are highly sophisticated and polished, like this guy,
29:58Christopher Williams.
29:59He presented as a model citizen.
30:01We have to prioritize these types for investigations,
30:04especially when we find out they have access to children.
30:16On August 18th of 2011, I'm online proactively seeking out the most deviant people
30:24that are out there looking for children.
30:29I'm on the market site Craigslist.
30:32I go into the personal section called Casual Encounters.
30:34I know that this is where predatory types hang out, looking for kids.
30:39One particular ad grabs my attention.
30:41This posting makes reference to role play, daddy-daughter.
30:46But as you continue through the ad, and he mentions under 20 moves to the top of the line,
30:52indicates to me that he really has a propensity for kids,
30:56but he's not able to articulate that in his ad because that ad would get flagged and tossed out.
31:03He could be looking to target someone who's underage,
31:06and he will probably land on a real kid if I don't do something to intervene.
31:10I'm using my 14-year-old persona, Brittany, who's from the Dallas area.
31:14I have used this profile and arrested tons and tons of predatory types.
31:21I respond, hey, I'm 14. Is that cool?
31:25Only 20 minutes later, I get a reply from a guy named C.W.
31:29Yeah, your age is cool as long as you know how to be discreet.
31:33The fact that he wants me to be discreet right from the jump
31:36tells me that he is very, very aware of what he's doing is illegal and wrong.
31:42So it's game on.
31:43I'm now in pursuit of a real predator.
31:49Detective Tony Godwin is working overtime to reel in a child predator with the username C.W.
31:57So I start to engage with C.W. as Brittany, kind of talking in teen speak.
32:02He replies within minutes.
32:05That's cool.
32:06Are you looking to just chat and talk,
32:08or are you actually looking to meet and get some experience?
32:12He jumps right into how he has a role-play fantasy
32:15and that a young girl would fit perfectly into that scenario.
32:19His role-play suggestion is simply an excuse.
32:23He's actually looking to have a sexual relationship with a child.
32:27I really want to catch this guy.
32:33The next morning, he's messaging me through the app.
32:36Hi there.
32:37I'm turned on that you're so young and wanting to explore.
32:40Chris.
32:43So for the first time, he signed off with a real name, Chris.
32:47Now I'm really excited because it's one more piece of the puzzle that I have,
32:50and hopefully we'll be able to get him identified soon enough.
32:54Over the next three days, Chris and Tony exchanged dozens of messages.
32:58We're communicating back and forth like an exhaustive amount.
33:03The reality is he's telling this to what he believes to be a child.
33:11He knows this is a crime.
33:13I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Chris is an absolute child predator.
33:18I mean, I'm locked in at this point.
33:20I want to take this guy down.
33:24Now he wants to know what I look like.
33:28That's really a door that opens up for me an opportunity to gather additional evidence,
33:32because I'm going to ask him to reciprocate and also send me photos of himself.
33:37Next thing you know, he sends me four different images of himself.
33:41And what I have is a bald, middle-aged, white male with a pretty significant goatee.
33:49I know your name.
33:50I know what you look like.
33:52Now I'm coming after you.
33:54I send two photos of what is being purported as Brittany.
33:57I do have the availability to do that through one of my co-workers,
34:01so she's provided me with plenty of photographs to use from when she was 14.
34:05And he replies,
34:07Oh, wow, Brittany, you're super cute.
34:09You look a little older, almost 15.
34:13What?
34:14Thank you, sir.
34:16He knows I'm underage.
34:17Thank you for that admission, Chris.
34:19I appreciate you admitting to a crime online solicitation of a minor.
34:23But then Chris tells me something that really alarms me.
34:27He has a daughter, and she's nine years old.
34:31Immediately, I know I need to escalate things because he has access to a child.
34:35And I really need to figure out who he is and get him in custody.
34:41So I decide I'm going to push the envelope just a little bit.
34:46And I ask him if he wants to text me.
34:48If I have his phone number, I can exploit that and get all the intelligence I need about who he
34:52is.
34:54He's nice enough to say, yeah, absolutely.
34:58Now I have a cell phone number, perfect information that I can use.
35:01I'm going to pass this over to Detective Castile, let him dig in and figure out who the guy is.
35:08Tony brings me a cell phone number, and he asks me to run it to the police database.
35:13Getting a cell phone number is a good piece of the puzzle.
35:15We can generally develop a suspect with a cell phone number.
35:19I get a hit on Christopher Lance Williams of Dallas, Texas.
35:23I find out that he works in dental technology.
35:26I locate the driver's license of Christopher Lance Williams, and I pull up the photograph.
35:31And that photograph matches the pictures that had been sent to Tony.
35:36I'm feeling great.
35:37This is a positive identification.
35:42So the next day, Christopher Williams asks if Brittany is available to meet in person.
35:48And then suggests, hey, we can watch porn.
35:51You can practice on me.
35:53He's now indicated we're going to meet in person.
35:56We're going to perform these sex acts.
35:58He's just committed this crime for me.
36:00I can issue a warrant for his arrest and pick him up.
36:05Whenever Tony calls me, we get excited.
36:08We like taking these guys down.
36:09We like taking them off the street.
36:11I set up surveillances on his home address.
36:16And I set up surveillances on his work address.
36:20It's a big step in our case.
36:22We'll actually even watch them at their house and actually follow them into their takedown location.
36:28So we're on for a takedown tomorrow.
36:36Detective Mark Castile waits for child predator Christopher Williams to show up.
36:42Detective Godwin has been in contact with this subject, we believe here, Christopher Williams.
36:51Williams has made arrangements to come meet Detective Godwin, who he believes is a minor, to come here to have
36:58sex with her.
36:59We do not know his vehicle for sure.
37:01He has said it was a red Ford pickup, I believe.
37:05And hopefully he'll be showing up here very shortly.
37:09I generally instruct the surveillance units on what's going on, and Tony will generally give the takedown signal.
37:16So I position myself at the complex where I have a good visual of where Williams is going to park.
37:23I get a message from Williams who tells me he's just leaving work.
37:31My surveillance team tells me they watched him leave the house in a red Ford pickup.
37:35He's on his way.
37:39Now is the nerve-wracking part.
37:42Let's see if he follows through with his promise.
37:49Okay, we should be seeing a red Ford pickup.
37:53Sorry, yeah, there it is.
37:57Back into his spot right now.
38:03Yeah, 10-4, he is backing into a spot right by the mailboxes right now.
38:09He also leaves the engine running, and that's concerning because that, he might try to pull out fast and cause
38:14a pursuit.
38:16I have to really bide my time and wait until the absolute critical moment to give the takedown order.
38:25Yeah, I've put my camera down for the moment because he's looking right in my direction, so I'm going to
38:30do the takedown.
38:31Everybody get ready.
38:33Let's go, go, go.
38:34Very slow, very slow.
38:36Remember, he's in the running vehicle, and it is backed in, so he's got easy access to get out.
38:41Let's go, go, go.
38:42Let's go, go, go.
39:11Williams just gives up.
39:13He throws his hands up in the air.
39:14He knows immediately he is caught and bought and paid for.
39:18He doesn't give any resistance.
39:20Pull him out.
39:21They handcuff him.
39:23Okay, subject's in custody.
39:28And we'll be tying it over and off for now.
39:33Three minutes ago, this dude thought that he had as much game as he could to have sex with a
39:3814-year-old girl.
39:40Now he's in custody.
39:41He's in the back of a squad car.
39:42He's about to be going to jail.
39:45Awesome.
39:50Williams is arrested and transported to the jail.
39:55Williams tells me that he does have child sex abuse material on both a cell phone and a laptop.
40:03In that conversation, he admits that he did initiate the communications with Brittany, and he also indicated that had no
40:11police been involved, he probably would have followed through with his intentions of having a sex act with her.
40:18Absolute proof that Christopher Williams is a child predator.
40:24After forensics were done on his devices, it was learned that Williams had engaged in communications and sent nude images
40:32with a real 14-year-old girl.
40:36I was able to track down this 14-year-old victim.
40:39I did interview her, and she did confirm that Williams asked her to produce nude child sex abuse material of
40:45herself and provide it to him.
40:49As I suspected, Williams was operating in the real world with real minors, which really highlights the importance of taking
40:58a guy like this off the street.
41:07Christopher Lance Williams was a wolf in sheep's clothing.
41:10He looked normal.
41:11He acted normal.
41:13Works in the dental industry.
41:16He's using his status to earn the trust of a vulnerable kid.
41:21I tell parents to let their kids know that it doesn't matter how much someone earns, what sort of job
41:26they have.
41:27They can still be a sexual predator.
41:29And educate the child to tell a parent or trusted adult that the behavior of someone they've encountered online doesn't
41:36feel right.
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