Jacob Teel (Photo courtesy of Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office)
An operation by the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office resulted in the arrest of nine men, including a former law-enforcement officer, on multiple sex-related charges. Former Cleburne County deputy Jacob Teel is in the Faulkner County Detention Center at Conway facing felony counts of internet stalking of a child and traveling for the purpose of an unlawful sex act with a minor.
The sheriff’s office states it collaborated with the 20th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, the United States Marshal Service and the Covenant Rescue Group to execute “Operation Room Service.” The Covenant Rescue Group is based in Alabama and comprised of former military, law enforcement, business executives and everyday individuals committed to putting an end to human trafficking.
The other eight men arrested in the operation are all facing felony counts of internet stalking of a child, traveling for the purpose of an unlawful sex act with a minor and sexual indecency with a child. Thirty-four-year-old Joey Le faces two counts of each charge, and 53-year-old Joseph Capps, 28-year-old Caleb Higdon, 22-year-old Easton Squirres, 45-year-old Damarv Cummings, 24-year-old Jeremy Curtiss, 71-year-old Alton Sprague and 52-year-old Phillip Engle are all facing one count of each charge.
For Teel, the internet stalking of a child is a Class B felony. For the others, the charge is a Class Y felony, the most serious crime in Arkansas not punishable by the death penalty.
Teel’s former employment was confirmed by the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office in Heber Springs.
Left to right: Joey Le, Joseph Capps, Caleb Higdon and Easton Squirres (Photos courtesy of Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office)
Left to right: Damarv Cummings, Jeremy Curtiss, Alton Sprague and Phillip Engle (Photos courtesy of Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office)
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