An Air Force undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old girl named “Bri” had an online discussion with Army Sgt. Rodlando Cruz Guzman during a sting operation that ended with officials charging the soldier with attempting to engage in sexual activity with a minor. (Air Force Office of Special Investigations/Facebook)
WASHINGTON — A soldier from the 10th Mountain Division has been charged with attempting to engage in sexual activity with a minor in Texas while he was taking a leadership course at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, according to federal court documents.
Sgt. Rodlando Cruz Guzman, 26, had an online conversation with an Air Force undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old girl named “Bri” during a sting operation, according to a criminal complaint from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. The Air Force Office of Special Investigations agent posted the message: “I wish there was one person to show me not all military guys are the same” on a mobile app called Whisper.
Guzman was released Friday with a $50,000 unsecured bond, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Texas. No court dates have been set.
Guzman was temporarily assigned to the Texas base from his normal posting at Fort Drum in New York to attend the Army’s Advanced Leadership Course and has been charged with attempted enticement of a minor and attempted transfer of obscene materials to a minor.
Guzman contacted Bri on Oct. 10 under the username “melody_Jack” and Bri told him that she was 14 years old. Guzman said he was a 26-year-old sergeant who was a medical instructor at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston. He then gave the agent his login information for another messaging app called KIK under the handle “rx18” where the conversation soon turned to sexual topics, according to court documents.
“Using sexually explicit terms, Jack (Guzman) told Bri he wanted to teach her about oral sex,” according to court documents. He also indicated he wanted her to meet him away from her house in order to avoid her parents.
On Oct. 10, Guzman also sent two digital images, both depicting his face and one also clearly depicting the barracks that he was staying in for the leadership course. During the night of Oct. 10, Guzman sent 100 messages to Bri, according to the documents. The following day, Guzman sent 66 texts and three images that included one of him in uniform and one of his genitals.
On Oct. 13, Guzman messaged he wanted to meet with Bri, saying he would be willing to leave his quarters to meet at her parents’ house at nearby Randolph Air Force Base to “do our dirty stuff.” The agent pretending to be “Bri” agreed to meet with Guzman on Oct. 14.
The agent and his partner were waiting at the designated residence Oct. 14 when Guzman showed up carrying a box of condoms that he had purchased on the way, according to court documents.
Guzman admitted to the agents that he was the person with the online handles “melody_Jack” and “rx18” and said he had used the apps Whisper and KIK to communicate with a 14-year-old named Bri. He said he had intended to engage in sexual activity with the girl and admitted he had used his phone to send a picture of his genitals to the girl, according to the documents.
Whisper and KIK are cellular communications and constitute interstate commerce, according to court documents and fall under federal jurisdiction. JBSA-Fort Sam Houston are also federal properties and fall under federal authority. Guzman could face serious penalties if convicted, including up to life in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.
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