Texas Child Exploitation Unit Arrest Six Men In Sting Operation

Staff Report

Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton is the lawyer for the State of Texas and is charged by the Texas Constitution to:

  • defend the laws and the Constitution of the State of Texas
  • represent the State in litigation
  • approve public bond issues

To fulfill these responsibilities, the Office of the Attorney General serves as legal counsel to all boards and agencies of state government, issues legal opinions when requested by the Governor, heads of state agencies and other officials and agencies as provided by Texas statutes.

The Texas AG sits as an ex-officio member of state committees and commissions, and defends challenges to state laws and suits against both state agencies and individual employees of the State.

Many Texans look to the Office of the Attorney General for guidance with disputes and legal issues. The agency receives hundreds of letters, phone calls and visits each week about crime victims’ compensation, child support, abuse in nursing homes, possible consumer fraud and other topics. To find out more about the Texas Attorney General, visit the official website at https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/.

AG Paxton’s Child Exploitation Unit and Copperas Cove Police Department Arrest Six Men in Sting Operation

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that the Child Exploitation Unit and Human Trafficking Unit of his office, in a partnership with Copperas Cove Police Department, arrested five men for Online Solicitation of a Minor and one man for Prostitution during a three-day operation to locate and arrest online predators.

The arrested suspects include:

  • Josef James Dilly, 31, of Copperas Cove, arrested November 20 on one count of Online Solicitation of a Minor. 
  • Victor Manuel Vascot, 45, of Killeen, arrested November 20 on one count of Online Solicitation of a Minor. 
  • Isaac Figueroa Jr., 28, of Round Rock, arrested on November 21 on one count of Online Solicitation of a Minor.
  • Justin Earl Kepler, 31, of Lampasas, arrested on November 21 on one count of Online Solicitation of a Minor.
  • Jesse Franklin Quidachay, 37, of Copperas Cove, arrested on November 21 on one count of Online Solicitation of a Minor.
  • Demerick Deon Hearne, 47, of Copperas Cove, arrested November 20 on one count of Prostitution.

All of the men arrested were transferred to the Coryell County Jail. 

The grotesque targeting of children is a nationwide issue, and this serves as a reminder that our communities must remain vigilant to protect the most vulnerable from exploitation,” said Attorney General Paxton. “I thank the hard-working investigators with my office’s Child Exploitation Unit and Human Trafficking Unit, and the brave police officers of Copperas Cove Police Department for stopping these child-predators from potentially harming more innocent children.” 

Attorney General Paxton’s office works to protect children by using the latest technology to track down online predators. Since its inception, the Child Exploitation Unit has made 264 arrests and obtained 194 convictions on charges of Online Solicitation of a Minor.

Attorney General Paxton urges all parents and teachers to become aware of the risks children face on the internet and take steps to help ensure their safety.

If you suspect someone is producing or downloading child pornography, you can report it to NCMEC.

For more information on cyber safety, please visit: https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/initiatives/cyber-safety/.

AG Paxton Announces Settlement Agreement with T-Mobile on Sprint Merger

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton today announced that his office reached a settlement with T-Mobile resolving the state’s antitrust claims against the proposed merger of mobile wireless telecommunications service providers Sprint and T-Mobile.

The agreement is designed to prevent the New T-Mobile from increasing prices for wireless services on Texans for five years after the merger is complete.

The agreement also commits the New T-Mobile to build out a 5G network throughout Texas, including rural areas of our state, during the next six years.

My office is responsible for protecting consumers and this settlement ensures that the New T-Mobile is not in a position to overcharge Texans for wireless service, and at the same time, obligates the New T-Mobile to invest in a high-quality 5G network that will serve the needs of Texas’ growing economy, or face stiff financial penalties,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Our objectives in joining the initial lawsuit were to protect Texans from unnecessary price hikes and to ensure that Texans living in both urban and rural areas will not get stuck with substandard service as the market for wireless telecommunication services evolves to adopt new standards of technology with the power to transform the Texas economy. This agreement achieves those objectives.

Terms of the agreement include requirements that the New T-Mobile:

  • Give all Texas customers access to the same or better unlimited talk, text, and data rate plans as those offered by T-Mobile as of the date of the agreement for the next five years;
  • Give all Texas customers access to T-Mobile limited data rate plans at a cost far below what is currently offered in the industry;
  • Commit to provide 5G wireless broadband coverage to areas where most Texans live, including most Texans living in rural portions of the state within the next three years and to expand that 5G coverage dramatically within the next six years;
  • Offer Texas residents that are currently employed by Sprint and T-Mobile substantially similar employment with the New T-Mobile.

AG Paxton Defends Right to Life for 9-Month-Old Baby Girl

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the District Court of Tarrant County in support of a nine-month-old baby girl who is fighting for her life after Cooks Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas denied the baby’s mother’s request to continue life-sustaining treatment for her.

Texas law currently allows a hospital’s “ethics” committee to vote to remove life-sustaining treatment against a patient’s wishes. The physician’s decision to end treatment directly violates the mother’s request and her daughter’s right to life.

One of the core principles provided by the United States Constitution is that no person should be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. This unconstitutional statute infringes on patients’ right to life and does not allow patients and their families sufficient notice and the opportunity to be heard before physicians override the rights of their patients,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Patients must be heard and justly represented when determining their own medical treatment, especially when the decision to end treatment could end their life.

Currently, section 166.046 of the Texas Health and Safety Code states that a physician who decides that treatment is medically inappropriate – along with an ethics or medical committee that affirm the decision – is not required to provide life-sustaining treatment at the request of a patient or the person responsible for the health care decisions of the patient unless a court orders otherwise.

The statute also fails to require that physicians provide an explanation of why they refused life-sustaining treatment, effectively allowing the government to deny an individual’s right to his or her own life and to do so without due process.

To view a copy of the amicus brief, click here.

Request for Opinion

Original Request RQ-0315-KP
Applicability of the constitutional resign-to-run provision to a county constable.

Date Received
Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Official Requestor
The Honorable John T. Hubert

Kleberg and Kenedy Counties District Attorney
Kleberg County Courthouse
Post Office Box 1471
Kingsville, Texas 78364

Notification of Opinion

Original Request RQ-0291-KP
County authority and responsibility for stray livestock

Attorney General’s Official Opinion KP-0277

A county sheriff has the authority and responsibility to enforce the estray laws of chapter 142 of the Agriculture Code whether the county has adopted a local-option stock law or remains an open-range area.” 

Notification of Opinion

Original Request RQ-0292-KP
Authority of a commercial entity to operate a willed-body program in Texas

Attorney General’s Official Opinion KP-029

Chapter 692A of the Health and Safety Code defines a “tissue bank” to include an entity licensed under state law to engage in specified activities with respect to donated bodies or anatomical specimens. For purposes of chapter 692A, the Texas Legislature defined “state” broadly to include any state.

Thus, to the extent Science Care is licensed as a tissue bank by another state, it is a tissue bank under chapter 692A, and it may operate in Texas as allowed by that chapter. Pursuant to chapter 692A, to the extent Science Care receives whole-body donations, it is subject to oversight by the Anatomical Board of Texas, and its use of a wholebody_donation, including a transfer, must be coordinated through the Board.” 

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