JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A former Longview Police Department lieutenant pleaded guilty in a Florida federal court this week to attempting to solicit sex from an 11-year-old girl using online messaging apps.
Seth Estes Vanover, 51, of Diana, entered a guilty plea on Monday to coercion or enticement of a minor out of a U.S. district court in Jacksonville, Florida, according to federal documents.
He was arrested in October 2022 and later released on bond.
According to court documents obtained by the Longview News-Journal, a man, who was identified as Vanover, had conversations with two undercover FBI agents via social media that show he wanted to have sex with a 9-year-old and an 11-year-old girl. The app was also reached on devices registered to the city of Longview.
In the plea agreement, Vanover admitted to trying to persuade, induce, entice or coerce an 11-year-old girl to having sex using communication on cell phones and Internet devices.
The plea also states the U.S. District Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida cannot charge Vanover with other federal offenses.
He will also be required to make restitution payments to all child victims and give up property, such as cell phones, iPads and other electronic devices, that were used to commit the offense. These items will be destroyed under the terms of the agreement.
Vanover faces 10 years to life in federal prison and a $250,000 fine or both. He also faces supervised release of any amount of years no less than five years. A sentencing hearing has not been set, according to court records.
A conversation from July 2022 show messages from a different FBI agent and an account called "jattleson." The account "jattleson" was interested in meeting the agent's girlfriend's 11-year-old daughter.
At one point in the messages, the agent asks how old "jattleson" is. The user says 44 and then sends a photo a nude man standing in front of a bathroom mirror, the document detailed.
The man behind the "jattleson" account said he's always wanted to have sex with a girl. Through a subpoena, the FBI learned the contact associated with that account was Seth Vanover and the city of Longview was the subscriber, according to the complaint.
In October 2022, Longview police said the FBI contacted the police department regarding an investigation involving one of the department’s officers. LPD said in a Facebook post the FBI arrested the employee, who was just identified as a "peace officer." The department said the officer resigned.