Warrant: Man sent explicit photos in solicitation investigation

LONGVIEW – An Overton man who was one of six suspects arrested as part of a multi-agency investigation sent explicit messages to what he believed was a 16-year-old girl, according to an arrest warrant obtained by our news partner KETK. 40-year-old Jason Fertitta was arrested earlier this month by DPS troopers along with five other men on charges of soliciting minors online. All were booked into the Smith County Jail. According to the warrant, they were taken into custody as part of an investigation called “Operation Cookie Monster.” An investigator wrote that he began “chatting [with Fertitta]…during the conversation [Fertitta] was told the person he was chatting with was almost 17 years old.” The document states that Fertitta allegedly sent graphic photos of himself to whom he thought was the 16-year-old girl and asked if she liked it.

The other five men charged in the case are:

62-year-old Ken Schneider (Carthage)
41-year-old Rodolfo Lopez-Santos (Longview)
40-year-old Gary Lowery (Gilmer)
34-year-old David Batalla (Longview)
20-year-old Jose Ramirez-Torres (Marshall)

No new details have been released on their respective cases.