KANSAS CITY—Law enforcement arrested an additional man in connection with trying to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex after deputies arrested him in a sting operation this wek.
Josue Rivera, 27, Kansas City, Kansas has been charged with one count of felony attempted child enticement, according to the Clay County, Missouri Sheriff.
Rivera was messaging with under-cover detectives during the original operation and continued communication until January 30, when he made arrangements to meet whom he believed to be the 14-year-old. Instead, deputies took him into custody at the meet-up location. He is being held on a $25,000 bond.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies and advocacy organizations, led a counter-human trafficking operation Jan. 23 and 24 that resulted in the arrest of two men who sought to have sex with a child, as well as services provided to more than a dozen potential trafficking victims.
Two other men, 33-year-old Jose Trinidad-Diaz of Kansas City, Mo. / Mexico and 34-year-old Dominic Shelby of Kansas City, Kan. were charged with felony attempted child enticement after they tried to meet whom they believed to be a 14-year-old girl for sex. It was actually under-cover detectives who had been chatting with them online and by text message.
The operation was a joint effort by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations – Kansas City, and the Ray County Counter Human Trafficking Task Force. The Ray County Task Force is a team of subject matter experts in the counter-trafficking space who contribute their time and knowledge at no cost to host law enforcement agencies. They are credentialed law enforcement officers and analysts from several sheriff’s offices and have deep connections to a network of aftercare and survivor support service organizations.
During this operation, Task Force volunteers from the Butler, Bourbon and Greenwood County sheriff’s offices in Kansas, the Washoe County, Nev., Sheriff’s Office and the Goodyear, Ariz., Police Department participated. They work discreetly with in-jurisdiction agencies with the support of the Ray County, Mo., Sheriff’s Office and many other credentialing agencies. Financially, they are supported by private donations from generous donors who believe in the mission of supporting law enforcement.