Oscar Figueroa, the 47-year-old former principal of Viridian Elementary school in Arlington, was found guilty Friday of child exploitation charges after he tried to lure a minor into a mall bathroom for sex, investigators said.
Figueroa was taken into custody at Stonebriar Centre Mall in Frisco on July 7, 2015 after officers said he was communicating with detectives on Craigslist and via text that he thought were children.
"An undercover officer posing as a 16-year-old boy contacted Figueroa and began exchanging text messages. Figueroa instructed the undercover officer to meet him at a particular place within the AMC Theatres at Stonebriar Centre. Frisco PD Officers arrived at the theater and discovered Figueroa, who directed an undercover officer to a bathroom for sexual activity," said the U.S. Department of Justice, in a news release Friday.
The DOJ said evidence entered at the trial included Figueroa's text messages with undercover agents, his interview with law enforcement, his Craigslist ads and the contents of his phone.
After a four-day trial, Figueroa was found guilty. He faces between 10 years and life in federal prison. A sentencing date has not been set.
Figueroa, who lived in Carrollton, had been the principal at the school since 2014. The school is in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District, which opened in the Viridian master-planned community in North Arlington last January. Before that, Figueroa was the principal at Hurst Hills Elementary School for two years.
No evidence has been revealed that indicates any children at the schools were solicited by Figueroa.
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This case is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Frisco Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marisa Miller and Jay Combs.
