New Orleans man named Santa Claus arrested in child predator sting

A New Orleans man who legally changed his name to Santa Claus was jailed recently on allegations that he tried to use a dating app to sexually prey on someone he believed to be an underage boy. Claus, 75, initiated contact through the app with an undercover detective who was posing as a 15-year-old boy as part of a sting operation being carried out over the weekend to arrest potential child predators, said a statement from police in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner. The Louisiana agency’s statement alleged that Claus explicitly discussed engaging in sexual acts with an individual he genuinely believed was too young to be able to legally consent and ultimately arranged an in-person meeting in Kenner, which is home to New Orleans’ international airport. Claus had also sent illicit pictures of himself exposed, the agency’s police chief, Keith Conley, separately told the Guardian. He then surrendered without resisting when investigators confronted him and took him into custody after he showed up to that meeting, Kenner police said. Claus’s “physical appearances indicates he does take on the persona of the [Christmas] Santa Claus, which is alarming considering” he was allegedly trying to commit a crime colloquially known as statutory rape, the police’s statement also noted. Conley elaborated by saying investigators found Claus had images of him posing as the gift-bearing figure also known as Saint Nick. …