Louisiana Coast Guard Member Arrested in Undercover Scam

A U.S. Coast Guard member stationed in the New Orleans area was arrested Friday after authorities say he attempted to meet up with a 15-year-old girl after exchanging sexually explicit messages with her.

According to the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office, sailor Gregory Wright, 31, of Henderson, Nevada, told the teen they needed to meet so “she could lose her V-card.”

But Wright was actually corresponding with an undercover agent working with the Louisiana State Police Special Victims Unit as part of an investigation into child sexual exploitation, authorities said. The FBI, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Mandeville Police Department participated in the investigations.

Wright was one of two suspects arrested last week, state police said. The other, Uri Parra Gonzalez, 35, of Slidell, was arrested in St. Tammany Parish on the same charges. No details were available about his case.

Wright appeared in Jefferson Parish court Monday morning for a bail hearing.

Laura Schneidau, assistant district attorney for Jefferson Parish, told the court that the undercover agent began contacting Wright on Wednesday through a social media app called Whisper.

The officer indicated in messages to Wright that she was 15. He acknowledged her age but continued to send sexually explicit messages, Schneidau said.

Wright made arrangements to meet the teen the next day. When he arrived, he was arrested by the FBI, authorities said.

Wright is assigned to Coast Guard Station New Orleans, said Lt. Phillip VanderWeit, spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Eighth District. He was stationed there for about eight months.

“The Coast Guard is aware of the arrest and is fully cooperating with all relevant agencies. The alleged criminal actions of this one individual do not reflect the Coast Guard’s core values or the tolerated behavior of the men and women who proudly serve in the Coast Guard,” VanderWeit said Monday.

Following the hearing, Jefferson Parish Criminal Commissioner Paul Schneider set Wright’s bail at $40,000. He was being held Monday afternoon at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna.