Cops Think Diaper Teen Enrolled in 6th Grade to Recruit Kids for Porn
Seventeen-year-old Ricardo Javid Lugo, who authorities say posed as a 12-year-old to enroll at Hurst Hills Elementary School as a sixth grader, was arrested for possession of child pornography. Police believe Lugo recruited victims at school for himself and a 28-year-old man with whom he lived.
Local news outlet WFAA reports that Randy Ray Wesson—who was also arrested—posed as Lugo's father, using a forged birth certificate and immunization records to gain admittance to the Hurst, Tx., grade school in August. According to the New York Daily News, the teen attended school for three months before the pair was caught.
Police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children before searching Wesson's home, where they found the alleged porn. According to the arrest report, Wesson told police he had 42,000 child porn images "on his computer, thumb drives, phone, and SD card," and admitted to sexually abusing "over 100 children between the ages of 14-17," identifying 12 of his alleged victims by name.
Lugo, a U.S. citizen, had reportedly been living in Mexico when he first made contact with Wesson, who used social media to convince the teen to come to Texas and live with him in March, the Daily News writes. According to the arrest report, a video of Lugo spanking a boy seen in other photos taken at school was found on his phone, and in one text, he asked Wesson "Horny?" after describing a possible victim:
A logical search of Ricardo Lugo's cell phone, which was on his person at the time of CPS contact and included in the search warrant, was conducted by Hurst Detective Par McGrail. The phone contained photographs of children at school, dated August 25 thru August 26, 2014. A video dated August 31, 2014, shows Ricardo Lugo spanking a child. The child is in a previous photograph taken at school.
Messages on the phone between Randy Wesson and Ricardo Lugo indicate that Ricardo Lugo is recruiting possible victims from school for himself and Randy. Ricardo tells Randy about seeing one of the kid's penis. He also talks about telling other kids not to tell and having to follow them home to see where they live. Ricardo tells Randy on September 12, 2014 that a kid told him he has always wanted someone to touch him and invited him over. Ricardo tells Randy "he said we could do it if I promise not to tell, and I said the same thing. Ricardo replied to randy "horny?".
The arrest report also states that police found emails sent by Wesson with text like "I want to be your daddy. I want to change your diaper," and that when they interviewed Wesson's father, he said that the boy living with his son—Lugo—was a 12-year-old who "wears diapers." Wesson's father told police he had previously caught his son watching child porn, and according to the arrest report, Wesson had been previously investigated for "inappropriate touching of a 4-year-old male," but charges were never filed.
A statement from the local school board said that "Hurst Hills staff followed all procedures regarding enrollment when the student was enrolled in August," and that their was "no indication" that Lugo's documents were faked or his behavior was cause for concern.
According to CBS's Dallas/Fort Worth outlet, police said they haven't found any victims that attended school with Lugo. Considering the content of the arrest report, it's probably only a matter of time before they do.
[Images via Hurst Police Department]