Lucio Vasquez/Houston Public Media
The Bob Casey United States Courthouse is located on Rusk Street in downtown Houston.
A sergeant with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office is now facing federal criminal charges after he was arrested earlier this week following an undercover investigation into online child exploitation in Florida.
John Fredrick Black, 46, is accused of attempting to transmit obscene material to a minor under the age of 16, according to federal court documents. The federal charges were filed Thursday and specifically mention the state-level charges against him in Florida, which include distribution of obscene material to a minor, one count of unlawful use of a computer to seduce, solicit or lure a child, and one count of unlawful use of a two-way communications device.
According to the sheriff’s office in Leon County, Florida, its Human Exploitation and Trafficking Unit began communicating with Black earlier this month while posing as a 13-year-old child. Black allegedly continued to communicate after being told he was talking to a minor. He is also accused of sending obscene material of himself to the undercover detective.
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RELATED: Harris County sergeant arrested for allegedly sending obscene material to Florida minor
Federal court documents include several pages of the alleged communication between Black and an undercover detective via a messaging app. The federal criminal complaint also alleges that Black sent several obscene photos.
Federal investigators wrote in court documents they were able to connect Black to the online messages via information collected from the messaging app company and Yahoo. According to court documents, the obscene images allegedly sent by Black visually match his residence.
Black is also accused of engaging in similar conversations with two other minors on the same platform, according to the Leon County Sheriff’s Office. The agency said the investigation was ongoing and more charges could be filed.
A spokesperson for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office told Houston Public Media that Black had been suspended with pay pending the outcome of an internal affairs investigation.
The defense attorneys representing Black in the federal and state-level cases did immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.
Court records show Black is in federal custody and has a detention hearing scheduled for Tuesday in Houston.