Queen City resident arrested in undercover sting operation

A 78-year-old Queen City man who was arrested in Texarkana last week for the alleged online solicitation of a child last week from a tip by a vigilante group known for luring suspects into staged interactions has prior unreported victims, authorities said.

David Keggan, Jr., was arrested in Texarkana last Wednesday and booked into the Bi-State Justice Center jail charged with online solicitation of a minor under 14-years of age and possession of child sexual abuse materials.

His bond was set at $300,000.

Both charges are second degree felonies punishable by two to 20 years in a Texas prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

The case will be tried in the 202nd District Court with Judge John Tidwell presiding. Kelley Crisp is representing the state. Keggan’s defense has been assigned to the Bowie County Public Defenders Office.

During the investigation, police also identified two adult women who allege they were abused by Keggan when they were juveniles but never reported the alleged abuse, said Shawn Vaughn, Texarkana, Texas, Police Department (TTPD) spokesperson.

“The concern is that there are other victims out there we don’t know about,” said Vaughn. “We would certainly not be surprised to discover more out there.”

TTPD is asking for anyone who knows about any past allegations of abuse by Keggan to contact Det. Casey Schmidt at 903-798-3193 with information.

Keggan’s arrest came after TTPD officials were notified that a caller, Alex Rosen, told dispatchers he had Keggan at a staged home on 9th Street “trying to have sex with a mom and her juvenile daughter”, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Rosen is the founder of Predator Poachers, a self-described vigilante group based out of Houston which targets adults who solicit minors online for sex.

Rosen and his group create fake, underage profiles on dating websites to target suspected child predators across the nation.

Rosen told officers Keggan had allegedly been in contact with “Emmy” who he believed to be an 11-year-old girl and was at the address to meet with her and her mom “Claire”, the affidavit said.

“Emmy” was actually a 27-year-old woman posing as the underage girl and “Claire” was a 41-year-old woman, both working with Predator Poachers.

At the address, Rosen gave officers printed text message exchanges between a phone number belonging to Keggan and “Emmy”. In the text messages, she stated she was an “11-year-old doing homework”. Contained in the text messages were a photograph of “Emmy” and an alleged selfie of Keggan as well as statements mentioning “Viagra” and how he would “make her feel good”, the affidavit said.

Rosen also provided officers with a recording of Keggan allegedly describing how he wanted to engage in sexual relations with “Emmy” and stating he “isn’t one of these kids in high school”, the affidavit said.

Keggan told officers he was there “to have a relationship with Claire” and that he would also engage in sexual activities with “Emmy” “if she wanted to,” the affidavit said.

After Keggan was taken into custody by police, officers allegedly found multiple pieces of sexual paraphernalia and a prescription bottle of Viagra with Keggan’s name on it while searching his belongings.

Investigators also located 27 images allegedly containing child sexual abuse materials on Keggan’s phone, the affidavit said.

According to online posts by Predator Poachers, Keggan met with “Claire” and “Emmy” at a restaurant in Texarkana prior to coming to the staged location to “feel out the situation.” Rosen stayed close by while undercover camera crews were recording the interaction from various angles in the restaurant.

Predator Poachers has an active online social media presence with more than 500,000 followers across various social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Youtube where they post videos of arrests and confrontations with alleged child sexual predators.