James Robert Villacorteza, 28, worked as a fifth-grade science teacher at James Elementary School in Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. He was hired by the Hillsborough County school district in August 2022.
While employed there, Villacorteza chatted on the dating app GROWLr with who he thought was a boy aged 15. Founded in 2010 by Coley Cummiskey, the platform became The Meet Group’s first same-sex dating app in 2019.
In May 2020, The Meet Group rolled out live video and free private 1:1 chats to GROWLr. In June 2020, the company announced the launch of monetization on the app.
Unbeknownst to Villacorteza, he was actually chatting with a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputy posing as a teenage boy. Just after 11:00 p.m. on October 17, 2023, the science teacher asked to meet at a Target in Riverview, Hillsborough County.
Villacorteza waited at the meeting place for 5 minutes. He left when he realized the purported boy was not going to show up.
On October 18, 2023, Villacorteza was arrested at James Elementary School. On October 22, 2023, he posted $11,500 bail and was released from jail.
The arrest was part of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office’s operation called Operation Renewed Hope, which targeted human trafficking. Including Villacorta, a total of 123 people were arrested over the course of 90 days.
CONAN Daily 