Firefighter Robert Sears resigned Thursday after confirming he had sex with a 14-year-old girl to Bloomington Police Department detectives.
Court documents signed by BPD detective Joshua Burnworth detail the sting operation set to arrest Sears.
The following events are reported as described in those documents.
Burnworth was investigating whether a 14-year-old girl and a 19-year-old man were having an inappropriate relationship when he found a conversation the girl was having with someone on the app Whisper.
The conversation was graphic and sexually explicit. The username of the person the girl was communicating with was “nope.”
Burnworth reported “nope” continually reminded the girl to delete their messages, and detectives found messages where "nope" indicated working at the fire department.
The detective began posing as the 14-year-old and messaging “nope” on Whisper.
He lured the user “nope” to a house on the southeast side of Bloomington by telling him he — posing as the 14-year-old — was alone with another fictitious 14-year-old named Tasha.
The user became nervous and wanted proof the meeting wasn't a “set up.” Burnworth, still posing as the girl, assured them it was not.
Two other BPD detectives were stationed near the address Burnworth gave “nope” via Whisper.
A truck drove by the address slowly. “nope” sent a message.
“I just drove by and didn’t see u,” it read. “turning around.”
Several police cars surrounded the truck as it passed the address again. The driver was 44-year-old Capt. Robert Sears, a 20-year veteran of the Bloomington Fire Department.
Sears almost immediately began saying his life was over, his marriage was over and he was going to lose his job and custody of his child.
Detectives found two firearms, a sex toy, lubricating jelly and condoms in Sears’ truck.
Sears continually asked Burnworth how much trouble he was in and “How bad is it?” on the drive to the police station. He said he “messed up bad” and blamed his actions on his post-traumatic stress disorder.
He said he thought the girl was 16 when they first started communicating. He then confirmed he was going to meet the 14-year-old and her friend to have sex with one or both of them Thursday.
Sears told the detective he previously had vaginal sex with the 14-year-old at a Motel 6 and oral sex with her at Griffy Lake. He also claimed she sent him explicit pictures of herself.
He told Burnworth he ended up at the police department Friday because he was stupid.
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What is Whisper?
Whisper is a social media app marketed as an anonymous platform for confessions.
The app, which launched in 2012, allows users to post text superimposed over photos and reply to posts and message one another through the app.
Posts are shown by proximity, so Whisper requests access to users’ location when they open the app.
Children must be at least 13 years old to use Whisper.
Though Whisper is commonly used as a secret messaging app, its privacy policy directly states it will disclose information to law enforcement if necessary.
The app’s community guidelines also specifically state soliciting minors will not be tolerated.
“If you solicit minors for any reason or post sexually explicit pictures of minors, we will suspend your account and report you to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,” according to their guidelines.
