Former Austin firefighter arrested in APD human trafficking sting

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Two men, ages 52 and 53, were arrested Saturday on charges of solicitation of prostitution.

According to the Austin Police Department, the Human Trafficking Unit carried out a “counter human trafficking operation.”

One of the suspects arrested is 53-year-old Keith Radovcich.

The Austin Fire Department said a firefighter named Keith Radovcich retired from the department Monday. We showed Austin Fire Association president Bob Nicks the mugshot APD provided for the man they arrested. Nicks said, with what he described as “95% certainty,” it was the same person previously employed with AFD.

The KXAN Investigates team found the date of birth listed in the affidavit for Radovcich matched the date of birth listed in bankruptcy records with the same name. Those bankruptcy records state Radovcich has been working for the Austin Fire since July 1998. Social media accounts matching Radovcich’s mugshot and name contain photos of the AFD logo. A post on the official Austin Fire page from 2017 mentions his name as well, alongside a photo of firefighters in action.

According to the arrest affidavit from the human trafficking operation, an APD detective placed an ad on a website known to be used to purchase sexual acts. The detective identified himself as a 16-year-old girl.

The affidavit stated Radovcich agreed to pay the detective posing as the girl $400 cash for a sexual act. They agreed to meet at a hotel near U.S. 290 and U.S. 183 Saturday, according to investigators. When Radovcich arrived at the hotel room, he was arrested by APD.

Investigators said in the affidavit, “Radovcich did commit the offense of Solicitation of Prostitution when he agreed to pay $400 to have sexual intercourse with a person he believed to be 16 years old, drove to the arranged location and entered the hotel room with cash.”

We asked Nicks about the retirement process for firefighters, given that a spokesperson for AFD told us Radovcich retired Monday – two days after the arrest. He says firefighters can retire without notice – and there’s no state law indicating a firefighters’ pension or benefits can be taken away if they’re charged with a crime or retroactively taken away if they’re convicted.

“They can [retire] on short notice. What that would do is it would eliminate any administrative investigation the person would have to go through. They would be subject to all the criminal charges,” said Nicks.

He said he will not comment on this case directly until it moves forward through the judicial process, but he provided the following insight.

“If a person is guilty of a crime against a woman, then we don’t consider them a firefighter. I mean, they were never a firefighter in our eyes, and every firefighter feels like that. But I’d ask everyone to withhold judgment until we know more facts in the case,” he said.

We have attempted to reach Radovcich for comment and are waiting to hear back. A lawyer for Radovcich was not listed online in court records as of 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

According to APD, 52-year-old Jose Armando Jasso was also arrested as part of the sting but in a separate incident.

This is a developing story. We will update this article as we get more information.