SANTA FE — As a list of men accused of preying on children in online chatrooms grows, a Santa Fe police officer alleges his latest target waited eight minutes to ask a 14-year-old for sex.

With the aid of a $9,500 grant through the office of the Texas Attorney General, detective Robert Powers has arrested 15 men in as many months, and all were charged with online solicitation of children.

His latest arrest came Monday, less than three hours after he logged a chat with a man he identified as Daniel Jones, 35, of Seabrook.

“I started talking at 10:52 a.m., and by 11 he had already asked if she wanted to have sex,” Powers, who was pretending to be a 14-year-old girl skipping school, said. “By 11:08, he asked for directions.”

The chat ended, Powers said, at 12:07 p.m. and he arrested Jones at 1:18 p.m.

For investigative reasons, Powers wouldn’t reveal the location he said he met Jones, saying only that they agreed to meet in a parking lot in Santa Fe.

“He was in a car and thought he was going back to the 14-year-old’s house,” Powers said. “He asked if I was a cop in the chat. ... ”

Jones’ bond was set at $15,000, Powers said.

Police seized Jones’ computer at the home he shares with his wife and three children, Powers said.

Powers said online solicitation of a minor under 17 is a second-degree felony.

“You have to contact a child you believe to be under 17 and have to solicit them for sex via the Internet or text message,” Powers said. “The meeting doesn’t actually have to occur, and the person doesn’t have to be a child.”

Of the men he’s arrested, Powers said some have entered plea agreements and received sentences from two to 10 years.

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Arrests

Here is a list of men charged in Santa Fe with online solicitation, including their ages, cities of residence and case dispositions.

•John Robert Payne, 41, Houston, case pending

•Christopher Parks, 23, Santa Fe, case pending

•Daniel Jones, 35, Seabrook, case pending

•Daniel Little, 28, Deer Park, case pending

•Dennis Ellison, 45, Alvin, 2 years

•Edward Koviac, 39, Richardson, case pending

•Ernesto Miles, 26, Spring, case pending

•Ivan Gamez, 24, Houston, 2 years

•Jonathan Paredes, 20, Houston, case pending

•Joshua Browning, 22, Needville, 2 years

•Joshua Lehman, 27, Houston, 10 years

•Kevin Lotz, 23, Nassau Bay, case pending

•Kiet Truong, 23, Stafford, case pending

•Kyle Stubenthal, 20, Kingsville, case pending

•Stephen Pennington, 37, Santa Fe, case pending

•Cullen Colfer, 19 of Katy, wanted

Source: Detective Robert Powers, Santa Fe police