{"id":197756,"date":"2026-03-10T04:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T04:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/197756\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T04:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T04:36:11","slug":"texas-dps-trooper-arrested-after-fbi-finds-chats-with-minors-on-seized-phone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/197756\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas DPS trooper arrested after FBI finds chats with minors on seized phone"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/handcuffs_1444577974483_345240_ver1.0_1280_720.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-v-7d0efd03=\"\"\/> article    <\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">LAREDO, Texas &#8211; A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper has been indicted on a federal charge accusing him of attempting to entice someone he believed was a 12-year-old girl into sexual activity following an FBI undercover operation.<\/p>\n<p>   Who is Christian Estrada? <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/DPS_extra_patrol_0_2461187_ver1.0.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>   <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KRIV\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">What we know:<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">39-year-old Christian Estrada, of Laredo, was arrested on Jan. 8, for coercion and enticement of a minor, according to court records. He was immediately suspended by Texas DPS.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">If convicted, the charge ranges from 10 years to life in prison.<\/p>\n<p> Details of the FBI undercover sting in Laredo <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/man-holding-phone.jpg\" alt=\"Man holding cell phone\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KRIV\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">Timeline:<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">According to a criminal complaint and supporting affidavit filed in the case, an FBI online undercover employee began communicating in April 2025 with a Telegram user identified as &#8220;dopehound&#8221;.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">Over several months, the user allegedly expressed sexual interest in the undercover agent\u2019s fictitious 12-year-old daughter, asked for nude images and discussed arranging a meeting for sexual activity.<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">Investigators said the user later communicated directly with someone he believed was the 12-year-old girl, who was also an undercover agent, and requested sexually explicit photos while engaging in what authorities described as sexual grooming.<\/p>\n<p> Texas officials on operations <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KRIV\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">The FBI said it identified the Telegram user through records obtained from Reddit and other platforms and linked the account to Estrada, a sworn DPS trooper stationed in Laredo.<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">According to the affidavit, during a Jan. 8 search of Estrada\u2019s residence, he acknowledged that certain biographical details matched the online accounts and identified the Telegram account as his.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">His phone was seized, and agents reported finding additional chats with users who indicated they were 14 and 15 years old.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">A judge ordered Estrada detained pending trial, writing that the case involves allegations he propositioned an undercover agent, posing as a parent, to have sex with a fictitious 12-year-old and later communicated directly with the purported child.<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">The judge also noted the government\u2019s allegation that a search of Estrada\u2019s phone revealed numerous chats with minors.<\/p>\n<p> Federal charges, potential prison sentence <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WEB-jail-prison-bars_1444244181872_317653_ver1.0_640_360.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KRIV\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">What&#8217;s next:<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">Court records say Estrada is charged with a federal offense involving a minor and could face a lengthy prison sentence if convicted.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">The criminal case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas while the Texas Department of Public Safety continues its administrative investigation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"group-source-paragraph\" data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source: Information in this article was provided by Texas DPS.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox26houston.com\/tag\/crime-publicsafety\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Crime and Public Safety<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox26houston.com\/tag\/us\/tx\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Texas<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"article LAREDO, Texas &#8211; A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper has been indicted on a federal charge&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":197757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1046,223,27,29,28,216,393],"class_list":{"0":"post-197756","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-crime-publicsafety","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-texas","11":"tag-texas-headlines","12":"tag-texas-news","13":"tag-tx","14":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}