TEXAS, USA — Border Patrol agent, Spencer Allen Cox, 24, has been arrested for online solicitation of a minor.
Cox was assigned to the Uvalde Station and has been on the job for 4 years.
According to an arrest affidavit, Cox reportedly met the 16-year-old minor on Snapchat.
The minor told investigators that she ran away from home after getting into an argument with her father and had been on the run for several weeks when she started to meet up with men she'd met on SnapChat. The teen told police that the men provided her with shelter and money in exchange for sex. She then refused to provide police with the identities of the men.
After applying for a search warrant on the victim's SnapChat account, investigators found a photo of "an individual who appeared to be clothed in a uniform."
Investigators learned that the person in the photo and the teen had been in communication for months. Early on in their conversation, the teen states that she is underage to which the person, later identified as Cox, acknowledges the message and continues to message her.
Per the affidavit, "several videos and photographs" were exchanged between the accounts, including videos and photos that show the victim nude and videos sent by Cox, that show a man and woman having sex. Cox allegedly claimed to be the man in the explicit video sent to the teen.
During their conversation, Cox offered money to the victim in exchange for photos and expressed his desire to have sex with her, per the affidavit.
In a follow-up interview with the teen, she explained to investigators that she had met Cox on SnapChat and told him she was a minor, but he continued to message her. The victim confirmed that Cox would send her sexually explicit images of himself to her, along with videos of him allegedly having sex with another woman.
The victim told investigators that she also sent him sexually explicit pictures of herself. She also to police that Cox "requested a 'car date' so that they could 'hook up' on three separate occasions." The two did not meet up, the affidavit states.
Earlier this week, Cox went to SAPD's Special Victims Unit to make a statement. He admitted to owning the SnapChat account and using it to communicate with various women, including the 16-year-old victim.
Cox also admitted to exchanging explicit photos and videos with the teen and acknowledged that the teen disclosed her age.
According to the affidavit, Cox "admitted that he noticed the communication where they discussed the Victim's age, but he believed he was 'drunk' when he engaged in that discussion with her." Cox also admitted to the discussions about a potential "car date" but explained that the term "was used as an actual date and not for anything sexual."
Cox is currently being held in the Bexar County Jail. Bail has been set for the charge at $25,000.
Border Patrol responded to Cox's arrest with the following statement:
“U.S. Border Patrol will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to bring this issue to a resolution. CBP stresses honor and integrity in every aspect of our mission, and the overwhelming majority of CBP employees and officers perform their duties with honor and distinction, working tirelessly every day to keep our country safe. We do not tolerate corruption or abuse within our ranks, and we fully cooperate with any criminal or administrative investigations of alleged misconduct by any of our personnel, on or off duty.”