WFPD applicant arrested after application raises red flags

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - The Wichita Falls Police Department arrested a man for aggravated sexual assault after his application to the police department raised suspicious flags.

According to the affidavit, WFPD conducted a background check on Diego McCullough, 25, after receiving his application to the police department. A section of the application about McCullough’s personal and criminal history asked if he had “any sexual act after [he] was age seventeen (17) with a person who was less than age seventeen (17) at the time.”

McCullough answered “yes” and failed to elaborate on the back of the page as the instructions required. Officers interviewed him, and he explained his answer when asked.

According to the interview outlined in the affidavit, McCullough was about 20 or 21 when he met a girl online. He told police he had a weird feeling that this girl was underage and asked her to show him ID, but she refused. However, McCullough still met up with and had sex with her. He also admitted to having sex with a different underage girl.

WFPD obtained the girls’ names and locations from McCullough and contacted the victims. The victim, now 18, would have been approximately 13 years old when she encountered McCullough. Police showed her a six-photo lineup in which she identified McCullough.

The victim told police she was about 13 years old when she met McCullough online in late 2018. She told police she and McCullough spoke online for about a week and a half before they met in person.

She said she was staying with a friend when she messaged him at approximately 1 or 2 a.m. one day. She gave McCullough their location, and he picked them up and drove them to his home, where he lived with a roommate. She said McCullough asked for an ID while riding to his house, but she refused to provide one.

The victim told police that once they arrived at McCullough’s home, he took her back to his bedroom, where they had sex. After they were finished, McCullough took the victim and her friend back home.

The police obtained an old phone from the victim and obtained consent to search it. They found McCullough’s contact information had been entered in the victim’s phone around the time the encounter occurred. Based on their investigation, WFPD arrested McCullough and booked him into the Wichita County Jail, where he is held on a $50,000 bond.