VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — An undercover sting operation led to the arrest of a sex offender who recently learned he'll likely spend the rest of his life in prison.
Ricky Horton, a sex offender from Norfolk, was on probation when he got arrested in Virginia Beach back in September 2024.
Previous coverage: Video shows arrest of man who thought he was meeting 11-year-old girl in Virginia Beach
The 65-year-old was sentenced to serve 51 years in prison for the following charges: propose sex act by communication system, victim younger than 15 years of age; attempted indecent liberties (six counts); possession of child pornography; and a violation of probation.
Horton was sentenced to 105 years in prison with 54 years suspended, leaving 51 years to serve.
The Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney’s Office said Horton engaged in multiple online conversations with a person he believed to be an 11-year-old girl named "Emily."
They said during these conversations, Horton stated multiple times that he wanted to engage in sexual intercourse and other sexual activity with “Emily.”
They went onto say he sent “Emily” multiple videos of himself naked and other inappropriate videos. Prosecutors say he also asked “Emily” to send him pictures and requested her address multiple times so he could meet her.
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But Horton was really speaking with the group Predator Poachers. The Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney said the group creates fake personas to identify people who are attempting to meet, groom, and engage in sexual activities with children.
Alex Rosen is the founder of the organization who calmly spoke to Horton and called the police the night of his arrest.
WTKR interviewed Rosen after the undercover operation and again after he was sentenced.
“I was shocked at how surprisingly honest he (Horton) was. He just kind of said, ‘yeah, I'm here to do this,' and he surrendered pretty quickly,” said Rosen.
Rosen says the group travels the country and they’ve helped with arrests in 50 states. He says too many people are committing these kinds of crimes.
“It's very scary, the thought of a [60-something-year-old] sex offender coming to meet an 11-year-old girl at midnight, and I'm very glad that it was not a real kid,” said Rosen.
Horton has a long criminal history, including prior convictions for attempted rape, failing to register as a sex offender and assault and battery.
