Sir, you were arrested on 10 separate counts. 21 year old Alberto AJ Jose Castaner Jr. was in court in Osceola County this week facing multiple counts of transmission of harmful material to minors and one count of solicitation of *** minor. The sheriff’s office said Castan first got on their radar when they were contacted about messages between him and *** 10 year old in which they believed he appeared to be grooming the minor. The sheriff’s office said he met the minor in his work with the Response team. The organization’s founder, Richard Herr, said he was contacted by the miner’s mother about the messages and sent pictures of them. He said he called law enforcement, according to the sheriff’s office. The messages at the time didn’t rise to *** criminal level, but their investigation didn’t end there. Hurst said he allowed Castan to continue living with him and volunteering after the incident. I was like, Well, you know, if we let him go, he has nowhere to go. He has no place to go. He may end up in *** girl’s house. Something may, you know, it could happen. So my wife, my wife, my fiance wasn’t too happy about it, but we let him stay and uh. It was hard because I watched every single move. His phones was taken away. I asked her, Do you think that put your the customers clients. I come back. I Seeing it now, yes. At the time of this happening, I knew law enforcement was involved. I didn’t think it was going to take this long. Ultimately, the sheriff’s office conducted an online undercover investigation and started talking with Castan while posing as an 11 year old girl. During the conversation, the sheriff’s office. solicited the minor for nudes and engaged in sexualized conversation. During the investigation, AJ sent several photographs of his genitals and communicated sexually with who he believed was an 11-year-old child. I didn’t think he was capable of taking pictures and stuff like that. He don’t show that character. Covering Osceola County in Kissimmee, Haley crumbled homes.
Osceola County nonprofit volunteer facing multiple charges after undercover investigation
Updated: 11:40 PM EDT Sep 26, 2025
An undercover online investigation has an Osceola County nonprofit volunteer facing 10 charges, including solicitation of a minor. Twenty-one-year-old Alberto “AJ” Jose Castaner Jr. was in court in Osceola County this week. Facing multiple counts of transmission of harmful material to minors and one count of solicitation of a minor. The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said Castaner first got on their radar when they were contacted about messages between him and a 10-year-old in which they believed he appeared to be “grooming” the minor. They said he was also posing as an 11-year-old. The sheriff’s office said he met the minor in his work with the Osceola Response Team, a nonprofit. The organization’s founder, Richard Herr, said he was contacted by the minor’s mother about the messages and sent pictures of them. “She said, you know, I’m 10 or something like that,” he said of the messages. He said he called law enforcement. According to the sheriff’s office, the messages at the time didn’t rise to a criminal level. But their investigation didn’t end there. Herr said he allowed Castaner to continue living with him and volunteering after the incident. “I was like, if we let him go, he has nowhere to go, he has no place to go, he may end up in a girl’s house,” Herr said. “Something could happen. My fiancé wasn’t too happy about it, but we let him stay. It was hard because I watched every single move. His phone was taken away.”WESH 2 asked Herr if he thought allowing Castaner to continue volunteering put his clients at risk. “Seeing it now, yes,” Herr said. “At the time of this happening, I knew law enforcement was involved. I didn’t think it was going to take this long.”Ultimately, the sheriff’s office conducted an online undercover investigation and started talking with Castaner while posing as an 11-year-old girl. During the conversations, the sheriff’s office said Castaner “solicited the minor for nudes and engaged in sexualized conversation. During the investigation, ‘AJ’ sent several photographs of his genitals and communicated sexually with who he believed was an 11-year-old child.” “I didn’t think he was capable of taking pictures and stuff like that,” Herr said. “I mean, he don’t show that character.”As of Friday night, Castaner was being held on bond. Herr said the Osceola Response Team is working to start doing background checks on volunteers. In Castaner’s case, we didn’t find a court history for him in Osceola County. WESH 2 reached out to Castaner’s attorney for comment.
An undercover online investigation has an Osceola County nonprofit volunteer facing 10 charges, including solicitation of a minor.
Twenty-one-year-old Alberto “AJ” Jose Castaner Jr. was in court in Osceola County this week. Facing multiple counts of transmission of harmful material to minors and one count of solicitation of a minor.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office said Castaner first got on their radar when they were contacted about messages between him and a 10-year-old in which they believed he appeared to be “grooming” the minor. They said he was also posing as an 11-year-old.
The sheriff’s office said he met the minor in his work with the Osceola Response Team, a nonprofit.
The organization’s founder, Richard Herr, said he was contacted by the minor’s mother about the messages and sent pictures of them.
“She said, you know, I’m 10 or something like that,” he said of the messages.
He said he called law enforcement. According to the sheriff’s office, the messages at the time didn’t rise to a criminal level. But their investigation didn’t end there.
Herr said he allowed Castaner to continue living with him and volunteering after the incident.
“I was like, if we let him go, he has nowhere to go, he has no place to go, he may end up in a girl’s house,” Herr said. “Something could happen. My fiancé wasn’t too happy about it, but we let him stay. It was hard because I watched every single move. His phone was taken away.”
WESH 2 asked Herr if he thought allowing Castaner to continue volunteering put his clients at risk.
“Seeing it now, yes,” Herr said. “At the time of this happening, I knew law enforcement was involved. I didn’t think it was going to take this long.”
Ultimately, the sheriff’s office conducted an online undercover investigation and started talking with Castaner while posing as an 11-year-old girl.
During the conversations, the sheriff’s office said Castaner “solicited the minor for nudes and engaged in sexualized conversation. During the investigation, ‘AJ’ sent several photographs of his genitals and communicated sexually with who he believed was an 11-year-old child.”
“I didn’t think he was capable of taking pictures and stuff like that,” Herr said. “I mean, he don’t show that character.”
As of Friday night, Castaner was being held on bond. Herr said the Osceola Response Team is working to start doing background checks on volunteers. In Castaner’s case, we didn’t find a court history for him in Osceola County.
WESH 2 reached out to Castaner’s attorney for comment.