Chris Hansen, host of TruBlu’s “Takedown” on FOX Nation, conducted a predator sting last month that led to the arrest of five suspects, over two days, who were allegedly caught soliciting a minor for sex — three of whom were in the United States illegally.
“We worked with the Blount County Sheriff’s Office in Alabama, about 45 minutes from Birmingham. One was from Honduras, and two from Guatemala,” Hansen told Fox News Digital.
Hansen and the sheriff’s office posed as an undercover “aunt” offering to sell her niece for sex in online chats with the suspects.
“Each used translator apps to have graphic [English] conversations spelling out the sexual acts they wanted to have with the child,” Hasnen told Fox News Digital, adding that the suspects “worked in construction and landscaping, often employed by homeowners and unsuspecting families.”
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIMES HIGHLIGHTED IN SWING STATE AS GRANDMOTHER KILLED IN CARJACKING
VIDEO: Chris Hansen ‘Takedown’ leads to arrest of 3 illegal immigrants accused of soliciting minor
When the suspects arrived at the so-called “sting house” in Blount County to meet with two young women posing as the aunt and her niece, Hansen and other law enforcement officials revealed themselves as officers and questioned the suspects about their actions. Two of the suspects — 27-year-old Garson Chilol and 28-year-old Henry Lopez — arrived at the home together.
Hansen told Fox News host Jesse Watters on July 31 that Chilol and Lopez said they did not have much money to offer the aunt for sex with her teenage niece, but authorities discovered $1,500 in their wallets when they arrested the suspects.
COUNTY SUPERVISOR IN VIRGINIA URGING COUNTY LEADERS, SHERIFF TO HONOR ICE DETAINERS
VIDEO: ‘Takedown’ host Chris Hansen catches illegal immigrant accused of soliciting sex with minor online
Hansen and the Blount County Sheriff’s Office soon learned about the suspects’ respective immigration statuses.
Each of the suspects arrested in connection to the minor solicitation scheme was charged with solicitation by computer, human trafficking and traveling to meet a child for an unlawful sex act, Hansen said.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS
VIDEO: Alabama sheriff tells ‘Takedown’ host Chris Hansen, ‘We need to do a better job’ of securing the southern border
Sheriff Mark Moon told Hansen in a follow-up interview that the arrests signify a need to “do a better job” apprehending those coming into the United States illegally through the southern border.
“We have to do a much better job of scrutinizing who we allow to come into our country, because we’re in a place right now where the open border process is affecting the entire nation. I know the border cities and border towns are overwhelmed, but it is affecting our entire nation,” Moon said.
The sheriff added that “any law enforcement head across this county in any state” is dealing with both violent and nonviolent criminal activity that is tied to illegal immigration.
