The trial of a 25-year-old Odessa man accused of arranging to meet a 14-year-old for sex earlier this year began Wednesday with a prosecutor and a DPS special agent reading texts exchanged between the defendant and the girl, who was really the special agent pretending to be an underage girl.
Special Agent Erich Whaples testified that in January, he and law enforcement officers from the Odessa Police Department and Reeves County Sheriff’s Office set up a sting operation in the hopes of arresting people intending to engage in human trafficking or sex crimes against children. He created a profile of an adult woman on social media and a dating app and waited for someone to respond.
On Jan. 12, Whaples said Dakota Beal responded via the dating app and within three hours they began texting each other. The conversation was mainly about sex, which Beal brought up, he said.
Early in the conversation, Whaples testified Beal asked him (posing as the woman) if he wanted to be picked up. Whaples said he then told Beal he had a secret, that he was actually only 14. Whaples told Assistant Ector County Attorney Rikki Earnest that many times when he’s undercover, the person he’s texting with will immediately stop responding upon learning the girl he’s texting is underage.
In Beal’s case, he asked for pictures of the girl. When he asked Beal what type, Beal said sexy pictures, Whaples testified.
When he sent Beal a picture of a dark-haired girl, Beal, who said he was 17, asked if he had any naked pictures he could send, Whaples testified.
Whaples and Earnest then read for the jurors the lengthy text exchange between the two that ultimately led to Beal being arrested one block from Crockett Middle School, where they had arranged to meet. At the time of Beal’s arrest, he had methamphetamine in his possession.
During the text exchange, Beal repeatedly asked Whaples for nude photos and Whaples, continuing to pose as an underage girl, kept declining, saying things like she didn’t want to disappoint him, that she was inexperienced, that her phone was linked with her mother’s and she didn’t want to get into trouble.
Beal kept insisting that he wasn’t going to leave his house to meet her until he’d seen photos of her nude. Eventually, Whaples sent two pictures of a girl in shorts and a sports bra — photos of an adult woman that were actually obtained from a police database used specifically in such sting operations.
Beal asked the girl if she was a virgin and if she wanted to change that and when Whaples, playing along, said yes, but wasn’t sure what to do, Beal texted, “I’ll show you.” Beal also asked the girl if she’d be willing to engage in specific sex acts.
During the conversation, Beal sent Whaples a photo of an erect penis, but Whaples testified he doesn’t know if it was Beal’s.
As the text conversation dragged out, Whaples repeatedly asked Beal if he was on his way, telling him “she” was cold waiting outside at Crockett. They also questioned each other as to whether the other person was “real” or not.
At one point, Beal texted he’d been delayed while stopping to buy condoms and offered her $20 for waiting on him.
When he finally arrived in the area of the school, Beal insisted she come out to the street so he could see her and Whaples insisted he come into the parking lot and flash his headlights. Whaples also got Beal to describe his vehicle.
Whaples said ultimately, officers pulled Beal over a block from the school. He testified they had legal cause to pull Beal over because he had a malfunctioning license plate light.
During cross-examination from defense attorney Kelsey Robbins, Whaples testified the administrators of the dating app deleted the profile he created for the sting operation before he could screen shot it and he suspects it was because they truly thought the person was underage. He denied creating the profile in such a way as to entice men.
Whaples also denied he coerced or persuaded Beal to commit solicitation by asking Beal where he went when Beal went 15 minutes without responding to one of his texts. Nor was it coercion when he repeatedly texted Beal comments like “Oh, you don’t really want to see me, do you” when Beal dragged his feet about meeting up, Whaples said.
The special agent agreed he’s the one who set up where and when they could meet, but he explained that law enforcement officers need to vet the location in advance to ensure their safety and the safety of any children who might accidentally wander into the location and get picked up by the sexual predator they’re trying to arrest.
Whaples conceded Beal never overtly said he believed the person he was texting with was 14.
Beal is charged with solicitation of a minor for sexual conduct and manufacturing/delivering of a controlled substance, more than 4 grams, less than 200 grams.
Judge Justin Low of the 161st Ector County District Court is presiding over the trial.
