SPRINGDALE, Ark. — A Springdale man has been found guilty of internet stalking of a child and possessing child sexual abuse materials.
John Herrera, 56, was arrested on Jan. 12, 2023, after he exchanged explicit messages with a Siloam Springs police detective posing as a 14-year-old girl, according to court documents.
An affidavit said Herrera planned to meet with who he thought to be a teenage girl that he met on a website known to police as a place "where children have gone to meet older people and adults have gone to meet children."
The affidavit said Herrera was told several times throughout the chat by the "teenage girl" that she was 14 years of age. Herrera acknowledged this by saying he wanted to meet her, but that "they would have to keep it casual due to her age," adding that they "would have to wait until she was 18 for anything sexual to happen."
The affidavit revealed messages that Herrera exchanged with the detective, going back and forth about physically meeting her. Messages from Herrera went from saying "We both gotta be careful," to then saying they could not meet up due to her age.
Eventually, Herrera contacted the supposed teenager again asking if he could pick her up to engage in sexual activity. Though the undercover detective agreed, Herrera didn't show up saying he had to work late, the affidavit said.
Days later, Herrera asked if he could pick her up to take her to a hotel in Springdale, court records show. Multiple inappropriate sexual texts were sent by Herrera saying what he was going to do to her, according to court documents.
When Herrera was unsuccessful in trying to talk to the supposed teenager on the phone, the affidavit says he "became angry" and told the girl to "grow up." He said if he couldn't talk to her or hear her voice, and she wanted to do this with an older man, he needed to make sure he wasn't being set up.
Court documents say that investigators went to interview Herrera at his place of employment, XNA, where he worked as a cook.
The affidavit says that in the interview, Herrera stated "he did not know if it was a real girl or a cop," and said he knew what he was doing was wrong, adding that he knew "there would be consequences for doing it, but he did it anyway."
Herrara also acknowledged that when he couldn't talk on the phone with her, "it was a red flag to him," according to court documents.
Herrara was charged with internet stalking of a child and possession of child sex abuse materials. Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Robinson confirms Herrera was sentenced to six years in prison for each charge, but that both terms will run concurrently.
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