Texas teen arrested in porn sting posed as elementary school student

By Lisa Maria Garza DALLAS (Reuters) - A 17-year-old Texan arrested in a pornography sting this week allegedly posed as a 12-year-old elementary school student in the Fort Worth area and tried to prey on children for illicit purposes, police said on Friday. The youth had attended a school in the suburb of Hurst since August under a false name while his alleged accomplice, Randy Ray Wesson, 28, posed as his father, according to police. Lawyers for the two were not immediately available for comment. After receiving a child pornography tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, police in Hurst searched Wesson's Fort Worth home on Tuesday and seized computers, hard drives and other equipment that contained tens of thousands of explicit images, police said in an arrest report. Investigators also found images and a video of students from the elementary school on the teen-ager's cell phone, police said. Wesson, who has been transferred into federal custody, faces charges including possession with intent to promote child pornography. The 17-year-old faces a charge of possession of child pornography and is in jail on a $250,000 bond. The Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District said there was no indication that the teen-ager's records were forged or that the student was too old to attend elementary school. "The student's behavior at school also did not raise any concerns," district officials said. (Editing by Jon Herskovitz and Susan Heavey)