U.S. News

Houston Police Lieutenant Drove to Meet a Teen He’d Been Texting. He Brought Pop-Tarts, Condoms, and Alcohol.

By Mike Harper · April 30, 2026

Lt. Quoc Viet Ngo had been a Houston Police Department officer for more than 20 years. He was assigned to the Airport Division at William P. Hobby Airport. He was 50 years old. And on April 17, he drove to what he believed was a teenage girl’s house to have sex with her — with Pop-Tarts, donuts, condoms, and alcohol in his vehicle and his service belt on his hip.

She was an undercover detective.

Ngo was arrested at the scene by investigators from the Harris County Precinct One Constable’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, which had been running an undercover operation targeting online predators. Officers used his own handcuffs to take him into custody. He has since been relieved of duty.

The operation began on April 1, when an adult male using the username “CoolTown” made contact online with an undercover agent posing as a 15-year-old girl. Investigators say that after being informed the persona was 15 years old, the suspect continued the communications, escalated them into sexually explicit territory, and arranged to meet in person.

Search warrant documents reviewed by KHOU 11 and KPRC 2 reveal the explicit detail of what investigators found on Ngo’s phone. He allegedly asked the detective posing as a teenager whether she could “handle someone older than you.” He sent sexually explicit photographs. He asked about her sexual history. And in one message that investigators included in the warrant, he wrote: “If you get pregnant by me, then I will marry you.”

Investigators also found that he had misrepresented his age online, claiming to be 28.

Ngo appeared in court on April 20. A judge approved new and stricter bond conditions — he is now barred from accessing the internet and limited to using a phone equipped with software that blocks online activity. He is charged with online solicitation of a minor, a second-degree felony that carries a sentence of two to 20 years in prison if convicted.

His attorney, Dick DeGuerin, has disputed the case from the outset.

“It’s entrapment from the beginning,” DeGuerin told reporters. “When you set traps, you’re likely to get innocent people in the traps, and that’s what happened here.”

Investigators say they are not ruling out additional victims. Harris County Precinct One Constable Alan Rosen, whose office led the investigation, posted publicly: “Lt. Ngo was sworn to protect the very people that he was targeting.”

Anyone who has information about similar conduct by Ngo is asked to contact the Precinct One Constable’s Office at 713-222-4929. Ngo’s next court appearance is scheduled for May 21.