A concerned citizen's call about a disturbance at Dogwood Park in Wesley Chapel turned into a far bigger case than anyone expected, after deputies responding to the report found a juvenile female walking away from a truck occupied by a 24-year-old California man. The response ended with that man, identified as Daniel Castillo, under arrest and facing charges tied to a months-long online relationship investigators say began on Snapchat.
According to the Union County Sheriff's Office, deputies were dispatched to Dogwood Park after the citizen reported a disturbance involving a male and female. When they arrived, they observed the juvenile walking away from Castillo's truck. Investigators say Castillo had provided alcohol and vaping products to the juvenile, prompting an initial charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. That charge, under North Carolina General Statutes § 14-316.1, is a Class 1 misdemeanor carrying a maximum penalty of up to 120 days in jail, according to Gilles Law.
Dogwood Park, located at 121 Lester Davis Road, is a 22.5-acre municipal facility with walking trails, a fishing pier, an amphitheater, a playground, and a fenced dog park, according to the Village of Wesley Chapel. The park serves as the primary public recreation space for the surrounding residential community.
Snapchat Contact Preceded Cross-Country Trip
Special Victims Unit detectives determined that Castillo and the juvenile had met through Snapchat and communicated for several months before he traveled from California to North Carolina, the sheriff's office said in its arrest notification. North Carolina law provides a more serious classification when an offender travels to meet a minor. Under North Carolina General Statutes § 14-202.3, soliciting a minor by computer is a Class H felony, but it escalates to a Class G felony once the offender travels to meet the minor in person, per Jetton & Meredith, PLLC. Castillo was ultimately charged with solicitation of a minor by computer in addition to the delinquency charge, and he was transported to the Union County jail.
The sheriff's office said the investigation remains ongoing. Search warrants have been obtained, and electronic devices connected to the case are being examined by detectives. Investigators have indicated that additional charges may be forthcoming depending on what the search warrants and forensic review of those devices turn up.
Part of a Broader Pattern of Online Solicitation Cases
This arrest fits into a pattern the Union County Sheriff's Office has been building a track record against. The agency's Special Victims Unit ranked fourth among all North Carolina law enforcement agencies for arrests related to internet crimes against children in 2025, up from sixth place the year before, according to WCNC, with the unit collaborating alongside more than 230 affiliate agencies statewide.
The pattern has repeated itself in other cases. In March 2025, the same unit ran a proactive online enforcement operation that led to four arrests after adult suspects tried to arrange in-person meetings with undercover detectives posing as minors, with three suspects taken into custody after showing up at prearranged spots in Monroe. In February of this year, detectives and state agents arrested an Indian Trail resident after a cyber tip flagged child sexual abuse material uploaded to Snapchat, seizing electronic devices and filing a felony sexual exploitation charge.
Funding and Statewide Trends
The sheriff's office's forensic capacity is also expanding. Federal appropriations legislation for fiscal year 2026 designated $861,000 for the agency to implement rapid DNA instrumentation to assist criminal investigations, according to the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations.
The Castillo case also echoes a wider trend across the state. Hoodline previously reported on an arrest in Kill Devil Hills involving Snapchat-based solicitation of a minor, part of statewide reporting that has documented multiple North Carolina cyber-solicitation and sextortion cases tied to the platform, showing how social media is frequently used to target minors across county lines.
For now, the Union County Sheriff's Office says the investigation into Castillo remains active, with forensic examination of the seized devices and the results of the search warrants expected to shape whether additional charges are filed.
