Arizona trucker accused of traveling to Indiana to sexually exploit 14-year-old girl

After an Arizona truck driver was accused of committing sex crimes against a child he allegedly met online, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is urging parents to closely monitor their children’s internet activity.

“It’s easy for young victims to get exploited by some of these perverts,” Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan said during a Thursday news conference. “We had a 34-year-old male here that was actually exploiting a young girl in Boonville, Indiana.”

The suspect, Stefon Santos, is accused of paying a 14-year-old girl for explicit images and traveling to Indiana to have sex with her, according to MCSO.

Authorities said Santos worked as a truck driver in metro Phoenix, lived with his mother in Litchfield Park and was arrested on May 4. Detectives searched the home near Bethany Home and Dysart roads and seized several cellphones belonging to Santos, finding images of the victim.

While facing child sex abuse charges in Arizona, Santos is also facing separate charges in Indiana, MCSO said.

Arizona truck driver arrested for child sex crimes in 2011

Santos is a registered sex offender, according to Sgt. Dennis Ogorchock, supervisor of MCSO’s cybercrimes unit in the major crimes division.

“He had been arrested by the MCSO Cybercrimes unit in 2011 for sexual exploitation of a minor from a peer-to-peer filesharing involving CSAM, which is child sexual abuse material,” Ogorchock explained during the conference.

He also said Santos was convicted, served about six years in the Arizona Department of Corrections and violated probation.

Ogorchock, who said he worked the earlier case, connected that history to the current investigation.

“Back in 2011, I was actually the case agent on that investigation, approximately 15 years ago,” he explained. “MCSO detectives knew — during this new investigation — that Stefan’s admissions made during my interview with him back then that he was sexually attracted to minor females, aged from 10 to 15 years old.”

How did authorities find out about recent child sex crimes case?

Investigators learned about the recent case involving the Indiana victim after receiving a cybertip on April 28, 2026.

The cybertip came from Cash App, which reported that an adult man living in Arizona was repeatedly sending money to a juvenile girl in Indiana.

Detectives with the Warrick County Sheriff’s Office in Indiana received the same cybertip as Arizona investigators. MCSO investigators worked with Indiana detectives, who interviewed the 14-year-old girl from Boonville, Indiana.

“They learned from their interview that she had, in fact, been sending sexually explicit images to our suspect via Snapchat, and we further learned that our suspect had traveled to Indiana on at least two occasions where they met in person and allegedly had sexual interactions on three separate instances, dating back to when she was 13 years old in 2024.”

Arizona trucker might have targeted other children, MCSO says

Ogorchock said Santos used Cash App, Telegram, Roblox — a popular app among children — and WhatsApp, in addition to Snapchat.

“We feel pretty likely there’s going to be other victims, possibly here in Maricopa County,” Ogorchock said.

He urged anyone who may have information about any other sex crimes Santos may have committed to contact MCSO at 602-876-1011.

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