Law enforcement arrest three on Maui for alleged electronic enticement of a child

Three Maui residents were charged with first degree electronic enticement of a child as a result of a coordinated effort by law enforcement, police said.

Law enforcement officers from around the state conducted Operation Keiki Shield 12 on the Island of Maui between Friday, May 20 and Sunday, May 22, 2022.

Those arrested included: Andrew Lovell, 43, of Wailuku; John Staten, 40, of Lahaina; and Joel Quiocho, 26, of Kahului. Police say all three were arrested on May 21, and were being held on $100,000 bail each.

The three offenders were arrested and charged “after soliciting what they believed to be children for sex and then taking substantial steps to meet up with those ‘minors’ for the purpose of engaging in criminal sexual acts with them. However, instead of minors, these offenders were actually met and arrested by law enforcement officers,” according to a Maui Police Department press release.

Police say all cases are being referred to the County of Maui, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney for review with additional referrals of some cases made to federal law enforcement agencies for review of violations of federal law.

Operation Keiki Shield is described as an ongoing operation “to identify, locate, and arrest offenders who commit Internet-facilitated sexual crimes against children and to identify and rescue child victims of child sexual exploitation and abuse.”

The operation is under the overall blanket of the State of Hawaiʻi Department of the Attorney General, Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, and includes officers and agents from local, state, and federal law enforcement.  

Since the first iteration of Operation Keiki Shield on Maui in March of 2020, 26 suspects have been arrested on Maui.

According to Maui police, the Department and its law enforcement partners in the ICAC Taskforce are vigorously pursuing online predators.

Operation Keiki Shield 12 was hosted by the Maui Police Department and included officers and agents from the Maui Police Department, the Department of the Attorney General, ICAC Taskforce, the Honolulu Police Department, the Kauaiʻ Police Department, the United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations Honolulu, the United States Secret Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.