ST. PAUL — The Bloomington Police Department is reporting that a Twin Cities-based ICE employee was among 16 men arrested in a child sex trafficking sting operation.

Alexander Steven Back, 41, of Robbinsdale, a suburb of Minneapolis, was arrested Nov. 13 when he allegedly attempted to meet up with what he thought was a 17-year-old girl, but was actually undercover law enforcement, according to a criminal complaint. He is a non-sworn HSI auditor and one of four charged in the operation, according to Bloomington police.

According to the complaint, officers posing as a minor in a text said, “I am 17 and one guy got hella mad at me,” to which Back said, “I’m not going to be mad at you.”

In a second instance, officers said “Kk and u ain’t gonna flip ur s**t that I’m 17 right? One dude yelled so loud I thought the neighbors would call the cops.”

Back responded, “Are you with the cops?” Officers said, “Lol definitely not R U?” and Back said, “No definitely not. Ok send address, im chill,” according to the complaint.

In a post-Miranda statement, Back allegedly said he doesn’t know why he didn’t “bail” after “Bella” told him she was 17 and said, “I don’t really know if there is anything to say. It’s all there in the texts,” the complaint said.

The operation, dubbed “Operation Creep,” is similar to one Bloomington police conducted in March when former Sen. Justin Eichorn was arrested for allegedly attempting to solicit a minor for prostitution. He pleaded not guilty to federal charges in April, and his lawyer is arguing that he’s being unfairly prosecuted because of his status as a former state senator.