SAN ANTONIO, Texas – A three-night sting operation in San Antonio this week has landed more than 30 men in jail.
The crackdown, known as Operation: Spring Fling, was conducted Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights by multiple agencies working together.
They included the Texas Department of Public Safety, Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, San Antonio Police Department, Converse Police Department, and Boerne Police Department, according to Lt. Jason Reyes with the DPS.
The operation resulted in a total of 34 arrests, he said.
Court records show most of the men face charges of solicitation of a prostitute. However, the records show the charges against two men — Joseph Silva, 42, and Bret Peterson, 21 — have to do with the solicitation of a minor.
Johnny Garcia, a public information officer for BCSO, confirmed that the suspects arrived at the hotel expecting to meet someone they believed they had been talking to online.
In reality, investigators were engaging with them on the internet, posing as women or, in some cases, children.
When they showed up, the men were arrested and taken into custody.
No one who was arrested was a guest of the hotel. Investigators simply used the business as a convenient place to conduct the operation. They asked KSAT 12 News not to reveal the exact address of the hotel.