USAA lawyer accused of seeking sex with minor

USAA attorney Robert Michael Bohanek was released from Williamson County Jail after posting bail. USAA attorney Robert Michael Bohanek was released from Williamson County Jail after posting bail. Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close USAA lawyer accused of seeking sex with minor 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A USAA attorney expecting to meet a 14-year-old girl whom he'd allegedly propositioned online was arrested by the car wreck attorney Crimes Unit over the weekend.

Robert Michael Bohanek, 44, had been communicating with an undercover officer posing as a teen for less than a week when they'd arranged to meet at a movie theater in Cedar Park, according to the attorney general's office.

He was arrested on one count of online solicitation of a minor, a second-degree felony, and was released from Williamson County Jail after posting $20,000 bail.

“Like all of our other cases, if we would not have shown up, [Bohanek] would have sexually assaulted a young child,” said Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for the unit. “These predators can be from any walk of life. Anybody who has a moral compass would look at a 44-year-old man trying to assault a 14-year-old girl and be surprised.”

A LinkedIn profile attributed to Bohanek states that he is the executive director of USAA's communications and mobile counsel unit and that he joined the company as a Florida patent attorney in 2007.

Jen Becker, a spokeswoman for USAA, confirmed that Bohanek is an employee and that the company is “aware of the situation and cooperating fully.” She declined to comment further.

According to a news release from the AG's office, Bohanek initiated and then participated in “sexually graphic online chats with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl” but who was really an undercover cyber crimes officer.

The release says Bohanek and the “girl” also exchanged text messages and emails and that he sent her text messages with photographs of women's clothing.

The release says that after Bohanek propositioned the undercover officer, the two arranged to meet Saturday in Cedar Park. There, officers arrested Bohanek and found a bag of women's clothing identical to the garments shown in the texts.

Officers also searched his vehicle, the release states, and a home in San Antonio where he lives with his wife.

Online solicitation of a minor is punishable by two to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

Bohanek's arrest marked the 140th for the Cyber Crimes Unit, which was developed in 2003 to target online sexual predators.

Strickland said Bohanek's professional background wasn't surprising, explaining that there is no prototype for cyberpredators.

“We realized very quickly that there is no one set profile for someone who would take their online activity and use it to exploit children sexually,” Strickland said.

“We've seen professionals, police officers, unemployed people, teachers, lawyers — it really has opened our eyes. The stranger profile no longer exists, and parents need to be more aware than ever.”