LONGVIEW, Texas — Editor's Note: The above video was published in October 2022.
The sentencing hearing for a former Longview Police Department lieutenant who attempted to solicit sex from an 11-year-old girl using online messaging apps has been set for December.
Seth Estes Vanover, 51, of Diana, entered a guilty plea on Aug. 21 to coercion or enticement of a minor out of a U.S. district court in Jacksonville, Florida, according to federal documents.
A court filing made on Tuesday states the sentencing will be held Dec. 20 at the federal courthouse in Jacksonville, Florida.
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.
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 based on 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, court records show.
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.