Hurst police say they have arrested two people — a 17-year-old who posed as a sixth-grader at an elementary school and a man who posed as his father — after seizing evidence of child pornography from a Fort Worth home earlier this week.
In a news release, Hurst police said they raided the home in the 2100 block of David Drive based on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
During the raid Tuesday, police seized a “large amount” of evidence of child pornography and exploitation of children, police said.
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Sgt. Craig Teague said the evidence led police to arrest Ricardo Lugo, 17, and Randy Ray Wesson, 28. The two are not related, but evidence from the home links them together, Teague said.
Wesson was home when police arrived to execute a search warrant. He was arrested and charged with possession with the intent to promote child pornography, sale or display of harmful material and tampering with government record. His bail was set at $3 million.
Lugo was at Hurst Hills Elementary, where he was enrolled as a sixth grader, at the time of the raid.
Child Protective Services removed him from the school because authorities initially thought he was 12 years old.
But they soon learned Lugo had used counterfeit documents to gain enrollment at the school.
In an email, Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD spokeswoman Judy Ramos said that the school followed the usual procedures when Lugo enrolled in August.
“There was no indication that the student’s records were forged or that the student was too old to attend elementary school,” she said. “The student’s behavior at school also did not raise any concerns.”
Ramos said Lugo was not arrested at the school.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Department of Public Safety helped Hurst police identify Lugo, who was listed in their records as a missing person from Mexico, Teague said.
Lugo was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography. His bail was set at $250,000.
Teague said detectives are trying to figure out why Lugo lied about his age. They are also working with school officials to determine if students from Hurst Hills Elementary were victimized, Teague said.
“This is like running in wildfire right now, as far as the information we have received,” he said. “It all takes time to process and analyze.”
Detectives believe there may be other victims in this case. Police are asking anyone with information about the case — or a possible leads — call 817-788-7146.
