Santa Claus Arrested in Shocking Louisiana Child Predator Sting

A 75-Year-Old Man Who Adopted the Holiday Icon’s Name Was Nabbed in a Multi-State Online Predator Operation, Police Say

A 75-year-old New Orleans man who legally changed his name to Santa Claus was arrested on Friday, June 26, 2026, during an undercover child predator sting in Kenner, Louisiana. The “Santa Claus arrested” headline is no joke. Police say the suspect used a dating app to arrange a sexual encounter with someone he believed was a 15-year-old boy. The “boy” was actually an undercover Kenner police detective.

The case has stunned a community already on edge. Wearing a red shirt, red jacket and red pants with a flowing white beard, the suspect looked every bit the part of the holiday icon that children line up to see each December. He was booked on charges of computer-aided solicitation of a minor and indecent behavior with a juvenile, according to the Kenner Police Department.

The story is a hard reminder that no costume is too sacred to hide behind. It also shows why online predator stings have become a critical tool for law enforcement in every state, including right here in upstate New York.

How the Undercover Sting Unfolded

The Kenner Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division runs an Internet Crimes Against Children, or ICAC, Cyber Crimes Unit. That team conducted the weekend operation that netted the man whose legal name is Santa Claus.

Investigators say Claus used the dating app Grindr to reach out to someone he thought was a 15-year-old boy, according to court records reported by NOLA.com. In text exchanges, he allegedly discussed showering with the teen and engaging in various sex acts. He then set up an in-person meeting on the Kenner lakefront.

When Claus arrived, detectives were waiting. Police took him into custody without incident.

“His physical appearance indicates he does take on the persona of the Santa Claus, which is alarming considering he was attempting to have sex with a boy,” Kenner police said in a statement.

Investigators later found images suggesting the man had worked at some point as a “Santa Claus” performer, though Kenner Police Deputy Chief Mark McCormick said the case is still under investigation and detectives could not confirm where he had performed those services.

Authorities did confirm that Claus legally changed his name to match the Christmas figure. They did not say when or where the name change occurred. He has no prior criminal convictions under his current or former name, police said.

11 Arrests, 10 Outstanding Warrants in a Single Operation

Claus was not the only person taken into custody. The weekend sting was much bigger than one name on a booking sheet.

The operation produced:

• 11 arrests

• 10 outstanding arrest warrants

• 37 criminal charges

• 21 total people facing child exploitation-related accusations

The 10 other suspects arrested alongside Claus were identified by police as:

• Carlos Lopez-Reyes, 29, of Kenner

• Christopher Fava, 45, of Metairie

• Faustino Salanicsam, 57, of Kenner

• Francisco Amaya-Paguada, 48, of Baton Rouge

• Jamal Landry, 34, of New Orleans

• Johnny Pierre, 31, of New Orleans

• Jonathan Akers, 31, of New Orleans

• Mario Herrera-Zeledon, 44, of Kenner

• Melvin Walker, 43, of Pascagoula, Mississippi

• Michael Lousteau, 23, of Luling

The charges across the case include computer-aided solicitation of a minor, indecent behavior with a juvenile and indecent behavior involving grooming. Police said arrest warrants have been obtained for 10 additional suspects, whose identities will be released after they are taken into custody.

Claus was being held at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna, according to NOLA.com.

A Cautionary Tale for Parents and Guardians

Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley did not mince words. He framed the arrest as a wakeup call for every parent who has ever dropped a child on a stranger’s lap for a holiday photo.

“All these defendants are a danger to our youth and society,” Conley said in a statement. “We preach daily about the vulnerability of our children on social media and gaming platforms, and now we have arrested a person who dresses up as Santa Claus, inviting parents to drop their young children in his lap for photo ops. This is a cautionary tale to parents and guardians.”

Conley also delivered a direct warning to anyone who would use the internet to target kids.

“Anyone who uses the anonymity of the internet to exploit children should understand one thing: We are there too,” Conley said. “Our investigators will continue to identify these predators, build strong cases, and bring them to justice before they have the opportunity to victimize a child.”

Why This Story Matters in Upstate New York

A Louisiana arrest may feel far from the Mohawk Valley, but the threat is the same in every zip code.

The New York State Police runs its own Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, one of 61 ICAC task forces nationwide. In 2023 alone, the New York task force received more than 22,000 Cybertips and supported over 4,000 subpoena requests. The number of tips jumped by nearly 50 percent over the previous two years.

That surge matches a national trend. The federal Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program, run through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, conducted nearly 347,000 investigations in 2025 and arrested more than 17,000 offenders.

Reports in Louisiana tell a similar story. Internet crimes against childrens reports in the state rose from 171 in 2010 to more than 16,000 in 2024, according to NOLA.com.

For parents in Utica, Rome, Herkimer and across the Mohawk Valley, the takeaway is clear. The same apps, gaming platforms and chat rooms that connect kids in Louisiana connect kids here. The same predators who scroll those platforms do not stop at state lines.

The Growing Threat of Online Child Exploitation

The internet has frayed the old rules of stranger danger. A predator no longer has to stand outside a school. They can sit in a bedroom two doors down from yours.

The ICAC program, established in 1998, was built to answer that threat. It now spans more than 6,200 federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies. Since its launch, the network has reviewed more than 844,000 complaints of child sexual victimization and arrested more than 89,400 individuals, according to the ICAC Task Force Program.

The Kenner operation shows the model in action. A specially trained team of officers used the same platforms predators use, posing as minors to draw suspects out before they can harm a real child.

It also shows that predators come from every walk of life. The 11 arrested in Kenner range in age from 23 to 75. They came from Louisiana, Mississippi and beyond. Some have prior brushes with the law. Others, like Claus, had spotless records under their legal names.

That range is exactly why experts say vigilance, not stereotype, is the best defense.

What Parents Can Do Right Now

You do not have to wait for a sting operation to protect your kids. Here are concrete steps that child safety experts and law enforcement recommend:

• Talk early and often. Tell your kids that not everyone online is who they claim to be, even on apps they trust.

• Know the platforms. Dating apps like Grindr are not meant for minors, but predators use them anyway. Learn what your children are using.

• Set privacy rules. Lock down profiles, turn off location sharing and review friend lists together.

• Watch for grooming signs. Be alert if an adult shows unusual interest in your child, gives gifts, asks for secrecy or pushes for alone time.

• Report suspicious contact. Tips can be filed 24/7 with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at CyberTipline or by calling 1-800-THE-LOST.

• Support local ICAC work. The New York ICAC Task Force works with local departments across the state. Back their funding and share their public outreach.

The Bottom Line for Parents and Communities

A man named Santa Claus was supposed to be a symbol of joy. Instead, he now faces charges of trying to meet a child for sex. The case is a gut punch to the holiday spirit and a warning shot to every adult who thinks a costume is a shield.

Kenner police did what good investigators do. They went where the predators go, and they caught one of them before a real child got hurt.

That work is not someone else’s problem. It is the same work being done in departments across upstate New York, often with fewer resources and the same rising tide of cyber tips.

Every parent, every teacher, every coach in the Mohawk Valley has a part to play. Watch the apps. Listen to your kids. Report what looks wrong.

The next child saved could live on your block.

Written by David LaGuerre for the Utica Phoenix. Source material for this report comes from the Kenner Police Department, NOLA.com, WDSU, WAFB, and the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.