Jesse Velez

One year prior to Jesse Velez's arrest in the sting operation, in October 2014, he held the position of a store owner at Mobile Express in Bridgeport, Connecticut. During that time, the store experienced a break-in around midnight. Despite Velez having installed a motion detector, it strangely failed to function. While the thief was pilfering items, a police car with flashing lights passed by the store. Surprisingly, just four hours later, the same individual returned and successfully made off with over twenty-four smartphones and tablets worth $3,200 in total. However, this time, the motion detector activated and alerted the authorities. Although the police arrived at the store within five minutes, the thief had already vanished. However, he expressed his distress over the stolen items and the time it would take for him to recover from the incident.

When questioned about his intentions, Velez insisted that he had merely come to the sting house to hang out. When Hansen confronted him about sending a lewd photo to the decoy, Velez feigned shock and denied having sent it. He asserted that he had engaged in conversations with numerous people online without anything sexual occurring. However, Hansen swiftly presented Velez with the explicit picture he had sent, causing Velez to pretend to react with surprise and repeat his claim of not being aware of sending it. He suggested that due to having multiple pictures of himself, he must have accidentally included it. Velez maintained that he used Grindr not for sex, but to meet different individuals, emphasizing that he did not randomly engage in sexual conversations or engage in immediate sexual encounters. He shared that he had a limited social circle while growing up and turned to Grindr as a means of meeting people. Hansen pointed out the inappropriateness of Velez's actions, coming to meet an underage boy after sending explicit content. Velez repeated his assertion of being unaware of sending the photo and insisted that he had been nervous upon arriving at the house, expressing a preference for meeting in a public place instead. He claimed it was his first time meeting a child from the internet and emphasized that their interaction would have been limited to sitting down and conversing.

Velez repeatedly denied sending the explicit photo and insisted that Hansen check his browsing history. He claimed that during his conversation with the decoy, he didn't mention anything about engaging in sexual activities because it wasn't his nature. Hansen questioned Velez about his comfort level if he were the parents of a child meeting an adult, to which Velez responded by mentioning his 16-year-old friend and expressing comfort with such a situation. Hansen pointed out the significant age gap between them. Velez argued that he had friends ranging from 16 to 30 years old and they would hang out without involving drugs. He vehemently denied being a pedophile and emphasized that he wasn't actively seeking out 10 or 13-year-old children. Velez claimed that he had second thoughts about entering the house and felt unsafe due to an incident where one of his friends was set up and assaulted at another person's house. At this point, Hansen revealed that he was conducting an investigation, leading to the appearance of cameras and Velez attempting to cover his face with his hand. Despite the evidence, Velez maintained his innocence, insisting that he wasn't someone who sought out young children online. He requested not to have his face shown on camera, citing extreme awkwardness and embarrassment.

Velez offered to have a private conversation with Hansen, but his request was declined. He stated that he was willing to answer any questions and reiterated that he didn't come to the house to have sexual relations with a teenager but simply to hang out. When Hansen asked him what lesson he had learned from the experience, Velez replied that people should not go to strangers' houses without getting to know them first. Hansen questioned why Velez didn't engage in other activities like watching sports instead of trying to have sex with a child, to which Velez responded that he was not a sports person. He emphasized once again that he wasn't there for sex and that Grindr could be used for purposes other than hookups. Velez acknowledged that being caught was a valuable experience and claimed that he would never repeat such behavior. He expressed appreciation to Hansen and shook his hand. As Velez exited through the garage, Fairfield police promptly arrested him, leaving him perplexed about the reason for his arrest and still unaware of the gravity of his actions.

When questioned by the police, Velez broke down in tears and admitted that he had gone on Grindr and contacted someone he believed was underage. He insisted that he had no intention of engaging in any sexual activity and that they were simply going to hang out. He said that he regretted going to the sting house and asserted that he had never done anything like that before. The female detective, who mentioned having 19 years of law enforcement experience, expressed skepticism about his claim of just wanting to hang out. Velez acknowledged that he understood how it appeared but maintained that he genuinely had no intention of having sex with a child. He revealed that he had no friends and that his only way of making connections was through Grindr. Velez then confessed to being engaged and explained that he and his fiancé didn't spend much time together.

After his arrest, Velez was originally charged with three felony counts: criminal attempted second degree sexual assault, attempted risk of injury to a minor, and enticing a a minor by computer.

I don't know why life happens the way it does. I don't want my friends to judge me in any way but people can't people understand I'm human and I screwed up and I'm not that person I'm being portrayed to be. This really bothers me a lot to the point where I wonder why am I still alive? This sucks more than anything in the world. It's like walking through the mall and everyone just stares at you calling you names. That's how I feel sometimes. I feel like I failed myself sometimes but I gotta try to keep it together because life still goes on. I wake up every day wondering every day what will happen to me and will the worse happen or the good? Other people wanna look at me funny and call me names. Well you know one thing you can do is look in the mirror and ask if bullying is going to hurt me. Stop holding my actions against me and let me deal with it and don't judge me based on what you read.