BATON ROUGE — A 29-year-old man from Mexico who is in the United States illegally pleaded guilty to trying to have sex with a minor, U.S. Attorney Kurt L. Wall said Thursday.

Francisco Javier Villanueva Castro entered his plea before U.S. Chief Judge Shelly D. Dick.

According to Wall, Francisco Javier Villanueva Castro admitted he used online messaging apps in February 2025 to convince someone he believed was a 14-year-old boy to have a sexual relationship with him. He then traveled to Denham Springs to meet the supposed teenager.

An undercover law enforcement officer was posing as the 14-year-old boy. Officers arrested Castro when he arrived at the agreed-upon location.

Castro was one of 11 people arrested during a sting operation that the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office ran in partnership with Chris Hansen, a former television host best known for Dateline NBC's "To Catch a Predator."

"I had reached out to the sheriff's office and we were able to put together a sting operation," Hansen said.