Fort Worth police arrest 4 in online sting

Four men face charges of online solicitation of a minor after going to a Fort Worth hotel with plans to have sex with an underage girl, only to find Fort Worth police waiting.

The department’s crimes against children unit conducted the two-day sting Sunday and Monday.

Sgt. Wade Walls, supervisor of the unit, said detectives scheduled the crackdown at a time when many children could be online unsupervised.

Walls said detectives posted ads on websites like Craigslist and Backpage indicating they were lonely and looking for fun. When contacted, the detectives would quickly bring their purported young age into the conversation.

Walls said that while some people immediately bowed out upon learning the age or flagged the post as inappropriate, others continued their exchange with the “underage girl.” An FBI agent assisted in the investigation, Walls said.

“Over two days, we were actively chatting with anywhere from 35 to 40 people who were at least halfway interested in what we had to say as a 13-year-old,” Walls said.

Four of those people went on to attempt to meet the “girl” in person at the hotel, prompting their arrests by the department’s west zero-tolerance team.

“They all in some form or fashion — through email and texts and in some cases speaking — agreed to some form of sexual contact,” Walls said. “They came to us — we didn’t come to them —under the guise that we were a young girl home alone.”

Arrested were Jeromie Renfro, 26, of Haltom City; Adnan Shahzad, 29, of Irving; and Brian Prim, 48, and Trevor Bullock, 21, both of Fort Worth.

Renfro believed he was to meet with a 15-year-old girl; the other men believed they were meeting a 13-year-old girl, Walls said.

Renfro, who wore a Six Flags shirt in his booking photo, said he was at his job at Six Flags Over Texas during his conversations with the undercover detective. He sent the “girl” a picture of the amusement park’s Holiday in the Park celebration along with sexually explicit photos, Walls said.

“The safety of our guests and employees is our highest priority and we do not tolerate inappropriate behavior,” Six Flags spokeswoman Sharon Parker said in an email sent to the Star-Telegram Wednesday. “The individual’s access to the park has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.”

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have been alerted to the arrest of Shahzad, who is in the country on a work visa from Pakistan, Walls said.

MedStar officials confirmed that Bullock worked as an emergency medical technician for about a year but indicated that he was fired in July for reasons that could not be disclosed.

Walls cautioned parents to supervise their children’s online activity. He said the unit plans to conduct more stings.

“We knew this was Christmas break and it’s very plausible that children could be at home alone while parents are working,” Walls said. “People need to know we are out there actively trying to catch these guys. We want to get them before they get your children.”

This story was originally published December 23, 2015 at 11:13 AM with the headline "Fort Worth police arrest 4 in online sting."