Overview
- A federal jury found 64-year-old Ervin Joe Campbell guilty of attempted enticement of a minor after a one-day trial that ended in a guilty verdict with about 30 minutes of jury deliberation.
- Prosecutors say the case grew from a Facebook Marketplace ad titled "Massage and Fun" where a Texas Attorney General's sergeant posed as 15- and 16-year-old girls and received messages from Campbell agreeing to meet for sex.
- Evidence presented at trial included cell-phone geolocation and call records showing Campbell drove roughly 30 minutes from Anson to an Abilene hotel, phone contacts saved under the name "15," two condoms and more than $500 in cash linked to an agreed payment for sex.
- The investigation and prosecution were led by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas with Homeland Security Investigations Dallas, the Texas DPS Criminal Investigations Division, the Texas Attorney General's Office and Abilene police participating.
- Campbell faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison, a possible sentence up to life and a fine up to $250,000 at his Sept. 17 hearing, a result that raises questions about trust in local officials and highlights common law-enforcement use of undercover decoys and digital forensics to prove intent.