Cañon City corrections officer accused of instigating sexual conversation with teenage girl

Feb. 28—A corrections officer at the Fremont Correctional Facility near Cañon City was among the dozens of suspects who were arrested as part of a nationwide investigation focused on sexual predators who target children.

"Well, I thought I'd introduce you to Justin Sturtevant," Polk County (Fla.) Sheriff Grady Judd said during a news conference last week. "That's right. He's a corrections officer. Did you hear what I said? And he's having unlawful communication and thinking he's grooming a 14-year-old female and he is mailing pictures of his junk to her. Turns out it's our undercover detective."

Sturtevant, 45, was arrested Thursday at his home in Pueblo West following an online conversation in which he "engaged ... on a social networking site with an undercover detective who was posing as a 14-year-old girl," according to a news release from the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

The "girl" told Sturtevant repeatedly on Feb. 6 that "she" was only 14 years old. Despite knowing the girl's status as a minor, Sturtevant allegedly instigated sexually explicit conversation with the detective, as well as sent a sexually explicit image, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Sturtevant faces numerous felony charges including criminal use of a two-way communication device, transmission of harmful material to a minor and using a computer to solicit a child for sex, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Judd said Sturtevant has a criminal history, with previous charges either dismissed or dropped.

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"We find out that he has a criminal arrest history. Did you hear me? Did you hear what I said? He is a member of the Colorado State Corrections System as (an) officer, and he has an arrest history," Judd said.

Sturtevant was among 30 suspects arrested in the investigation, called "Operation Child Protector," which was conducted by the Polk County Sheriff's Office in Florida, officials said.

He is being held in southern Colorado, where he is waiting to be extradited to Florida.

"Justin needs to be in the system. He needs to be in prison. But it won't be in the Colorado prison system. It'll be in the Florida prison system," Judd said.

The prison near Cañon City where Sturtevant was employed declined to comment.

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