52-Year-Old Maryland Man Charged With Soliciting Sex From A Minor
LAUREL, Md. (WJZ) -- A 52-year-old Maryland man was arrested and charged after he allegedly solicited sex from an undercover state trooper who was posing as a 14-year-old boy on the Internet.
Ricardo Xavier Castillo of Hanover is charged with one count of sexual solicitation of a minor. He's being held without bail at the Prince George's County Detention Center.
A Maryland State Police trooper with the Computer Crimes Unit was monitoring an online dating app while posing as a 14-year-old boy Thursday, when Castillo allegedly initiated a conversation with the goal of soliciting sex from the child. The suspect then suggested meeting the minor that day in Laurel.
Castillo arrived at the location around 5:05 p.m. That's when state police, with an assist from a special agent assigned to the FBI's Maryland Child Exploitation Task Force, arrested him on scene.
The Maryland State Police Computer Crimes Unit coordinates the Maryland Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. This is a combined law enforcement effort involving police departments across Maryland that is made possible in part due to grant funds provided by the Governor's Office of Crime Prevention, Youth and Victim Services and by a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. Task force investigators focus on identifying those involved in child pornography via the Internet and other related crimes that victimize children.