SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — A Florida man has been taken into custody after Scottsdale police helped uncover evidence of him allegedly engaging in sexually explicit behavior with boys.
Jacob Lozano was recently taken into custody in DeSoto County, Florida and is awaiting extradition to Maricopa County after the suspect allegedly engaged in inappropriate conduct with at least two children in Scottsdale, police said.
Sergeant Andrew Parrott is with the department's human exploitation and trafficking unit that focuses on these types of cases. He said they got a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children back in November regarding an explicit conversation an 11-year-old in Scottsdale reportedly had with Lozano.
“[Lozano] was manipulating them and having them do different things," Parrott said.
Upon further investigation, police learned Lozano was allegedly using multiple social media and gaming platforms to contact underage boys and coercing them into engaging in sexual activity with him over a webcam.
There's evidence that Lozano would then allegedly distribute child sexual abuse material of the victims, according to police.
Parrott said a detective took over the victim's accounts and communicated with Lozano while posing as the victim.
“We were able to actually see the behavior that he was doing with these kids and the manipulation and the tactics that he was doing with the children," Parrott said.
Through their investigation, detectives found two other young victims in Scottsdale.
Despite living in Florida, Parrott said they were able to obtain a national warrant for Lozano's arrest. Parrott and two other detectives flew to Florida to see the arrest firsthand.
“[Lozano] was taken into custody when he was pulling into the driveway,” Parrott said.
Police said the investigation is ongoing since there may be other victims in other jurisdictions.
While it may seem obvious, Parrott said parents need to talk with their kids about the dangers of speaking with strangers on social media and through video games.
UP TO SPEED
How big is Maricopa County?
Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.
The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.
The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States.
The county was named after the Maricopa, or Piipaash, Native American Tribe.