Four men arrested for Internet sex solicitation (Shenandoah TX by the AG office)

590 KLBJ ^ | 7/25/2006 | 590 KLBJ

[ziggy_dlo]

Four men accused of using the Internet to solicit sex from minors were arrested during a two-week undercover operation by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office. Arrested in July were: 25-year-old William Noel Shrum of The Woodlands; 26-year-old Guadalupe ``Wally'' DeLaGarza the third of College Station; 40-year-old Robert Wayne Ramirez of Needville; and 51-year-old Calvin Hoddy Hannah Junior of Owasso, Oklahoma. That's what the A-G's office announced in a news release Tuesday. All four were lured to Shenandoah, Texas, by investigators in the A-G's office who posed as minors on the Internet. De La Garza allegedly engaged in sexual conversations on Myspace-dot-com with an undercover investigator he thought was a 14-year-old girl. The news release says he was arrested for attempted sexual assault of a minor and the unlawful carrying of a weapon after arriving in Shenandoah with condoms, a digital camera, rope restraints and a handgun. Shrum, Ramirez and Hannah were all arrested for attempted sexual assault of a child and online solicitation of a minor. Hannah drove 480 miles from Owasso to Shenandoah for the meeting

[AmericanMade1776]

The Tip...for Kids...from Texas Attorney General

I pledge to remember that people online may not be who they seem. Because I can't see or even hear the person it would be easy for someone to lie. For example, someone indicating that "she" is a "12-year-old-girl" could, in reality, be an older man.

it seems sometimes what is presented to the youngster is not truthful

[Graybeard58]

It does smack of entrapment but on the other hand it's the worst of the worst being entrapped and I am inclined to think that the end justifies the means.

[twigs]

Friends of ours have a 19-year-old son who just began his prison sentence for this last week. He is a college student with a 4.0. It's not always so clear cut. This young man was 18 and in an internet chat room where there were a lot of teens, supposedly, of varying ages. They talked dirty. He was stupid, but assumed that he was talking to girls close to his own age. Not all of them said they were 14. Someone proposed to meet. He didn't want to engage in sex but was curious about the whole thing. He had made plans that evening with friends back home and showed up without the paraphernalia he had been assigned to bring. The awaiting police tore up his car looking for it; never found it. They took his computer and could tell he didn't have a history of trolling these chat rooms. He was found guilty of all charges and is now in prison. A very sad story.

[twigs]

See post 23. There's an example of what you're saying.

[Drew68]

but this borders on "thoughtcrime" to my way of thinking.

It crossed the line from "thoughtcrime" when these men hopped in their cars and drove to meet their "victims."

That is how they always bust these guys. The never (or rarely) bust someone for simple "sex-talk" on line. The bust happens when they show up at the doorstep with a pocket full of condoms.

Invariably, they all give the same excuse, "I came here to warn her about perverts on line!"

[Fury]

I think a lot of the case is going to depend on what was discussed (and recorded) in the chat room. If the log had information that could be attributed to your friend's son, that's going to be a potential problem.

[twigs]

He admitted that he participated in the raunchy chat. He knows he should never have driven to the meeting point, but foolishly did. But he's now in prison. The last I heard, they had him in solitary confinement--apparently it's what they do to all new inmates during the first week of their stay in the county jail. It's really a shame. This young man comes from a good and loving family and has a supportive church behind him, so I think he'll be fine. But it's a difficult penalty to pay for a stupid lapse of judgment.

[kittymyrib]

I take it the Aggie won't be enrolling for the fall semester. He definitely sounds like a dangerous psycho, and it's fortunate he's off the street.

[laotzu]

Usually we wait until an actual crime is committed..

Not this time. I would cut off my left foot to stop this happening to your child. Fortunately, the law shares my passion on this.

[CholeraJoe]

Ahh the Internet. Where men are men, women are men and teenagers are undercover cops.

[Drew68]

But it's a difficult penalty to pay for a stupid lapse of judgment.

If this account as you presented it tells the truth of what happened to your friend, then I think he was unfairly prosecuted. That being said, these types of accounts are the exception to the rule. Most of the men that get busted in these sting operations have only one thing on their mind; They want to have sex with a young teenage girl.

[AmericanMade1776]

That is sad, but one of the men arrested in this sting was carrying a gun and rope to meet what he thought was an underage person for sex.

[AmericanMade1776]

Drew, I agree with you. Her 19 year old friend was arrested , but what if he had meet with what he thought was a friendly scene, and instead of an Undercover cop, he meet the man with the gun and a rope.

[twigs]

I believe that what I wrote is the truth. It's filtered through the mother so has a bias. But I have no reason not to believe it, especially when she says her son did participate in an immoral and sexually explicit conversation online. Yes, I believe it was a bad prosecution. It went to trial the week that the Duke Soccer team case was coming to the public eye and although that was an entirely different type of story, it was still college men "preying" on women. The other men who showed up were older geezers looking for sex with young girls. Our friend was one of the teen-agers who got caught up in it. A few months earlier and he would still have been 17.

[twigs]

Everyone, including the young man, agrees that all of his actions surrounding this were stupid, unwise and immoral (the talking sexy online part). He had just turned 18 when it happened. We just hope now that he's not in danger in jail. He's not a tough sort at all. I've watch his mom go from a positive believer in our judicial system to a woman wrestling with a lot of anger. They are both very much in my prayers. It hurts me to see this.

[ishabibble]

Very sad story. I survived three teenagers at once. The oldest is a girl, who pretty much set the tone for the teen yrs. My two sons just seemed preoccupied with their physical changes and those of the girls in the neighborhood. All good kids. This happened 1990-1997, and I cannot tell you how surprised I am that life has gotten so horrible for the kids so fast.

Rule #1 was no PC, no MTV VH1 HBO. No, we are not Amish. We lived in upscale land and I was the meanest mom in the entire town. The first family in the town to get a V chip installed (35 bucks a month) right after I screened the Madonna/Black Jesus having sex in the church pew MTV video.
I didn't allow an open sewer to run through my home and this vile swill is the exact same thing. In 2006, that same video seems pretty tame. Rule #1 was no lousy messed up friends, as in, you're going to meet thousands of people in your long life, don't even bother getting in with Freddie Kruger, Jr. Rule #1 was no sleepovers for anybody. You don't sleep there, they don't sleep here. Rule #1 was also about spare time after school and sports. Still got energy?
Get a job. All my kids worked for their father. My boys came to love football practice in the rain! Anything but working for dear old Dad, who was very P.O.'d to discover that his babies had grown up. Mr.X's sole parenting tip was work them like a rented mule...they'll be too tired to cause trouble. This worked. We never saw the inside of a police station or a drug rehab.

There are some things I would change, but never Rule #1 which was and is and always will be, "I AM THE PARENT AND YOU ARE THE CHILD." The biggest change if my kids were teenagers today? HOMESCHOOLED. I would never allow them to be indoctrinated by the NEA.

[AmericanMade1776]

How long is his sentence? And I understand your concern.

[2Jedismom]

Oklahoma Ping!

If you want on
or off this list
Freepmail me.
~~~~~~

Arrested: Calvin Hoddy Hannah, Jr.:

DOB: 07/28/1954 Gender: Male Race: White Warrant Issued: Confirmed with: Date Arrested: July 19, 2006 County Arrested: Montgomery Other Information: The Cyber Crimes Unit arrested Calvin Hoddy Hannah, Jr. after he drove from his home in Owasso, Oklahoma, to an apartment complex in Shenandoah, TX, to meet a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl for sex. Hannah was arrested for criminal attempt-sexual assault of a child and online solicitation of a minor. Hannah chatted online with an undercover Cyber Crimes Unit investigator who posed as the 14-year-old. Hannah arrived at the prearranged meeting location in a pickup with Oklahoma license plates.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[2Jedismom]

That was quick!