Undercover Chat Operations Leads to the Arrest of 9 Men

HOUSTON, TX – During the months of February and March, Harris County Precinct One Constable Deputies and the joint Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force led by Precinct One continued proactive efforts to stop child predators from preying on our children.

These undercover chat operations resulted in the arrests of nine men who attempted to meet for sex with what they believed were teenagers.

In one case, deputies arrested a 75 year old man who attempted to meet for sex with a girl who he believed was only fifteen years old.

Williard Joe Billings was arrested March 20, 2019 on suspicion of Online Solicitation of a Minor.

Billings traveled from North Houston to the location of his arrest by METRO bus. Additionally, he used a motorized scooter as his primary means of travel. In his attempt to get from the bus to the agreed upon location he fell off that scooter, but picked himself up, and continued. He was uninjured in the fall.

“This paints a clear picture that child predators will travel any distance and by any means to reach a child who they have targeted as their prey,” said Constable Alan Rosen.

Billings admitted to investigators that his phone contained child pornography. Billings is a Navy veteran.

A separate operation in late February helped effect the arrests of eight men who believed they were chatting with minors online. Those online personas were undercover officers and deputies. The suspects believed they were chatting with minors, some as young as nine years of age.The goal of these operations was to identify and apprehend adults using the internet and social media to sexually exploit children by soliciting sex or sex-related acts.

One of those suspects, Eduardo Salazar, drove all the way from San Antonio to meet what he believed would be a teenage girl. Another, Kelvin Mcleod, Jr. was employed as a security guard. A third suspect, Michael Schurz, is a former minor league baseball player who worked with children as a baseball instructor.

Each individual arrested is listed below, along with corresponding information about them and their arrests, specifically. You will find their mug shots below and if you follow this link you will find video of the arrests posted to the Precinct 1 YouTube channel.

Potential punishment for a felony conviction of online solicitation of a minor can be a sentence ranging from probation or 2-20 years in prison.

Precinct One would like to thank our Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Affiliates who participated in these initiatives. Those agencies include the Houston Police Department, Harris County Constable Precinct Five, Katy ISD Police Department, Humble Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety, The Harris County District Attorney’s Office, the Fort Bend District Attorney’s Office, the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office and Cypress Creek Tactical EMS.