(Texas Scorecard) – A maintenance worker in Gainesville Independent School District was jailed after getting caught in an underage sex solicitation sting.
Hunter Clayton Jordan, 26, was arrested and charged with online solicitation of a minor, a felony.
The Cooke County Sheriff’s Department conducted the “sting” operation on July 15-16 with the Texas Department of Public Safety, Collin County Sheriff’s Department, and The Colony Police Department.
“While suspects believed they were communicating with under-age minors, they were actually chatting with law enforcement officers,” according to a media release from Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington. “The suspects were then directed to a pre-determined location in Gainesville, where law enforcement was waiting.”
Sappington said Jordan showed up driving a Gainesville ISD vehicle.
Online solicitation of a minor is a second- or third-degree felony, depending on the circumstances of the crime. Sappington stated that Jordan was charged with a second-degree felony, which is punishable by 2 to 20 years in prison.
Jordan was arrested on July 15 and booked into the Cooke County Jail. Bond was set at $150,000.
In a statement to Gainesville ISD families and staff, Superintendent DesMontes Stewart indicated that a maintenance department employee was arrested for online solicitation of a minor and had since been fired.
He stated that Jordan’s arrest was the result of a sting operation, “Therefore, no actual minors were involved.”
“Upon hire, all GISD employees must complete and pass a fingerprint-based background check that identifies criminal history results through both the FBI and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Gainesville ISD maintains a subscription to all staff background reports for the entirety of their employment,” wrote Stewart.
“We are cooperating fully with law enforcement and are committed to transparency as this case develops,” he added. “If you have a concern or information to report, please contact the Cooke County Sheriff’s Office or the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.”
Hundreds of Texas school employees have been accused of sex crimes involving students and other children in just the past few years.
Thousands of educator sexual misconduct complaints have been reported to the state since the Texas Education Agency began keeping organized records in 2021.