Seven men allegedly trying to pay for sex with minors were caught and arrested during an undercover operation executed by the Renton Police Department.

On Dec. 11, the RPD released information regarding the arrests of seven men during an undercover operation designed to identify people willing to pay for sex with children. Of the seven men, four have been charged, though RPD spokesperson Meeghan Black said the investigation into the other three cases is still ongoing, and they fully expect charges to be filed.

Charging documents state that the men who have been charged responded to advertisements on websites used for sex solicitation from Sept. 25-28, and were arrested then or on another day. They then continued soliciting sex from the undercover officers after they were told they were corresponding with an underage person.

Details of the investigation

Of those arrested, one included Alex Diaz Rios, former assistant principal in the Seattle School District. Black said detectives had evidence to charge Diaz Rios with patronizing a prostitute for his online and text activity with what he thought was a 15-year-old boy.

Charging documents state that on Sept. 27, Diaz Rios committed the crime. Diaz Rios’ crime was a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and or a $1,000 fine.

Another arrested was a Seattle man named Joseph Haufle, 40, who was charged with attempted commercial sex abuse of a minor, attempted rape of a child in the third degree, and communication with a minor for immoral purposes. According to charging documents, Haufle had previously been charged with two sex crimes, including rape of a child in the third degree and rape in the third degree.

According to charging documents, undercover detectives went on websites where women post advertisements to persons looking to pay a fee in return for sex, but are often utilized by minor females involved in commercial sex. On Sept. 26, an undercover detective then contacted someone named “Joe,” who was found to be Haufle.

The undercover officer reported that he obtained an offer and agreement for $140 from Haufle for sex after Haufle had been told by the undercover officer that she was 15 years old.

“[The detective] texted that the UC minor female was at a hotel, Haufle, ostensibly in reference to the UC minor female’s age, replied, ‘Not sure how you were able to get that, but ok.’ He followed up with, ‘I’m not trying to walk into a sting’ and ‘I’m not trying to be difficult, but this is risky,’” the documents stated. UC stands for undercover.

Haufle then went into the parking lot of the sting hotel, and when instructed by the undercover officer to turn his headlights on and off, officers were able to locate Haufle and arrest him on Sept. 26.

When interviewed, Haufle said he knew what he was doing was illegal and that he took ownership of it. He then told officers that he was definitely going to jail for life because he recently got out of jail for a prior sex offense, and he advised that he is a level three sex offender from a rape of a child conviction from 2013, according to documents.

Haufle pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. He is currently being held at the Maleng Regional Justice Center on a $750,000 bond.

Another arrested was an Oregon man, Thang Khai, 27. Khai was charged with attempted commercial sex abuse of a minor and communication with a minor for immoral purposes.

According to charging documents, on Sept. 26, Khai responded to an advertisement, and proceeded with the solicitation of sex after the undercover officer told him that she was 15 years old. Khai then asked the undercover officer who was pimping her because she was underage and could not buy a room on her own, the documents stated.

The documents stated that Khai then entered the hotel and proceeded to the bait room, where he was arrested. When he was arrested, Khai was found to have $100 in his left pocket, an additional $259 in his wallet, and condoms.

Khai was booked into SCORE jail on Sept. 28, and the state requested a $75,000 bail due to the facts of the case, but the court set the bail at $5,000. Khai then posted bond eight days later and now awaits trial. Khai pleaded not guilty.

Another arrested was a Seattle man, David Scott, 38, who was charged with two counts of communication with a minor for immoral purposes and one count of attempted commercial sexual abuse of a minor.

According to charging documents, on Sept. 25, Scott responded to an advertisement and continued soliciting them after learning that the undercover officer was posing as a 13-year-old girl. After communicating with the officer and offering payments and times to meet, Scott said he suspected he was being set up by law enforcement and said he did not want to end up on “To Catch a Predator,” though he continued corresponding.

Scott then told the undercover officer that he was at the hotel and was going to call the police and tell them there was an underage girl at the hotel, though officers did not locate him at the hotel or receive any calls. He then ceased communication, according to documents.

The documents state that Scott responded to another advertisement set up by officers on Sept. 27. After the girl told Scott she was 15, Scott said it felt like a setup, though he still bought her an Uber ride, but then the officer did not arrive at the location. Scott proceeded to get upset with the officer and demand his money for the Uber and later sent a naked photo of himself.

Officers arrested Scott on Oct. 17 on probable cause and booked him into King County Jail. The state requested a $40,000 bail, which the court sustained.

Scott pleaded not guilty and then posted bail a day after his arrest.