Alston

BACKGROUND

A.

In June 2023, Detective Jeffrey Agostinho of the Brentwood Police Department was part of an undercover operation targeting child exploitation. As part of this investigation, Agostinho used a social networking app, called Tagged, to communicate with strangers online. He created a Tagged profile—using a fictitious name (Jimena R.), a fictitious date of birth, and an enhanced photograph of another undercover detective—to portray himself as an 18-year-old female. He used the age of 18 because the Tagged app would not permit minors to create a profile.

On June 2, 2023, at 1:21 p.m., Alston messaged Agostinho’s Jimena profile, exchanged pleasantries, and said she was “gorgeous” and “beautiful.” Alston described himself in his profile as a 19-year-old male named Luke, and included two photographs, a short biography, and a location.

Agostinho and Alston exchanged phone numbers and switched to text messaging. Via text message, Agostinho asked Alston if he was really 19 years old. Alston—who was in fact 29 years old at the time—responded that he was 22 years old. Agostinho then sent Alston an age regressed photo of an undercover detective and asked Alston how old she…