A 49-year-old Gillette man sent more than 600 messages over two weeks to a girl he believed was just 14 years old but was actually an undercover agent posing as a minor.
Gilberto Zaragoza was arrested Thursday at his home in Gillette and formally charged in Campbell County Circuit Court on Friday for sexual exploitation of a child, promoting obscenity and solicitation of a prostitute.
Judge Paul Phillips set Zaragoza's bond at $250,000 commercial with a GPS-monitoring requirement.
Zaragoza, using the handle HugeD, began chatting with the presumed teen on MeetMe, a social app that makes it easy to find and start chatting with neighbors nearby.
In a previous case with Zaragoza in 2020 he used the name ExtremehugeD on the same app.
On the other end of the messages was South Dakota ICAC investigator Adam Eggers, posing online as a 14-year-old.
Last Monday he reached out to the agent, unbeknownst to him, and said: "If you come to Gillette and walk into my house and have sex with me I will give you $4,500."
Leading up to that message, he had already asked the undercover teen what her age was. At first he said "Sorry you're too young" and but later asked "Would you tell anyone if I did u."
During the back-and-forth written exchange, the agent asked Zaragoza directly, "would you if I was there" and he replied "Yes in a second," then added "I have done all the way to 11."
'Personal Sex Slave'
For two weeks, Zaragoza allegedly asked the teen for sexually explicit photographs, discussed having sex with the purported child and tried to figure out how the child could get to Gillette.
In multiple messages, the 5-foot-5, 115-pound Zaragoza boasted about his anatomy to the agent, and the conversation became increasingly sexual.
During the chat, Zaragoza sent an image of an erect adult penis to the person he believed was a 14-year-old girl.
He pressed for explicit photographs from the presumed-child, but the agent responded, "no I don't send pics like that."
Ultimately Zaragoza asked, "Can I just come get you" and "Can I keep u as my f--- slave."
The agent replied, "i can't be gone forever," to which he countered, "Ok I will come get for a week … And make you my personal sex slave."
When investigators arrived at his home, he admitted hiding his iPhone and confirmed it was his device.
They found the chat conversation with the agent along with searches on a well-known porn site for the term "teen-13."
They determined the chat took place from within the city of Gillette for nearly the entire two-week period.
There was, however, no 14-year-old on the other end of the conversation.
Already A Sex Offender
Zaragoza was already a registered sex offender when the latest investigation began.
Records show his criminal history stretches back more than two decades, beginning with a 2001 New Mexico conviction involving sexual offenses against a minor.
The Wyoming registry classification also describes the underlying offense as involving a victim younger than 13.
The registry lists Wyoming convictions in 2020 for failing to register as a sex offender and promoting prostitution by enticing or compelling another person to become a prostitute.
In 2021, Zaragoza was convicted in Wyoming of promoting prostitution by procuring another person.
Those convictions are separate from the allegations he now faces in Campbell County.
A preliminary hearing on Zaragoza's latest charges is scheduled for Sept. 4.
Thousands On The Registry
Zaragoza is one of more than 2,500 people actively listed on Wyoming's sex offender registry.
The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation's 2025 annual report counted 2,555 registered sex offenders statewide at the end of the year, up from 2,355 in 2024 — an increase of about 8.5%.
Campbell County accounted for 214 of those offenders, up from 201 the previous year. That was the fourth-highest raw total in Wyoming, behind Goshen, Laramie and Natrona counties.
With a county population of about 48,100, that works out to roughly one registered sex offender for every 225 Campbell County residents. The county added eight new registry records last year.
The registry is more than a list of names. Wyoming law requires it to include an offender's photograph, address, physical description, and the convictions that require registration. Offenders also must provide authorities with phone numbers and online identifiers they use.
That last requirement became particularly relevant in Zaragoza's new case.
Investigators say the phone number used in the conversations with the undercover officer was the same number Zaragoza had provided for his sex offender registration.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
