Collin County serial predator faces life in prison, authorities say

A Collin County serial predator, pedophile and stalker was sentenced to life in prison, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Deketric Charrontay Love, 27, was sentenced after a jury found him guilty Feb. 22 of burglary of a habitation with the intent to make invasive visual recordings, the Collin County Criminal District Attorney's Office said in a news release.

Frisco police officers initially responded on November 11, 2022, to a report of suspicious activity. A child, home alone, saw a person looking in his bedroom window, but was not arrested. The same child on Dec. 2 discovered unknown items in his room, the release said, including a hidden camera in his dresser. After that, the child's father installed a security system in the house, prosecutors wrote.

In another incident, officials reported that the child saw the intruder outside his window at night while doing homework. The son and father confronted the man and called the police. Love tried to run away, prosecutors said, but was arrested as he tried to leave the area.

In his car, authorities found additional cameras and items belonging to the boy. According to the announcement, the data from his phone placed him at the scene during the incidents and in other cases the family was not aware.

“He discovered his home Wi-Fi connection and use of an app connected to the camera left in the child's room,” officials wrote in the release. “Forensic analysis matched Love's fingerprints and DNA to items found in and around the home, solidifying his involvement.”

Prosecutors said Love was on probation for felony online solicitation of a minor in Dallas County at the time of his arrest. Six community members testified that Love would hang out of windows, remove screens, enter homes uninvited and stand at the foot of a child's bed in one case, according to the release.

“We've sent a strong message: our community is off limits to predators and we're all about keeping our children safe,” District Attorney Greg Willis said after the sentencing.