A top Pentagon official charged with overseeing the education of military children in the Americas is caught on video allegedly soliciting sex in a Georgia hotel room.
Stephen Hovanic was one of 26 people caught in a two-day human trafficking sting in Coweta County outside of Atlanta, according to authorities. Local Fox affiliate WAGA obtained the video that captured the interaction with Hovanic and the undercover officer.
Hovanic walks into the hotel room and puts his sunglasses on a table next to a pack of condoms.
He introduces himself as “Steve” and shakes her hand.
“You’re beautiful,” he tells her.
“Thank you, you’re quite handsome yourself,” she responds.
He then asks, “Can we do a half-hour?”
She tells him: “That would be fine. But I am just going to let you know that I don’t play before you pay.”
Hovanic hands the cash to her, and that’s when two cops barge in and place him in handcuffs. He claims he’s “not doing anything” but “getting a massage.”
Stephen Hovanic, a Pentagon official who helps oversee schools on military bases, was arrested for allegedly soliciting a prostitute in a Georgia hotel room. He faces a misdemeanor pandering charge. (Mugshot: Coweta County Sheriff’s Office; Screenshot: WAGA)
He was taken to jail and is facing a misdemeanor pandering charge.
According to his LinkedIn page, Hovanic has been the chief of staff for the Department of Defense Education Activity for schools in the Americas since 2010. The agency oversees K-12 schools at military bases in the U.S. and abroad. Before that, Hovanic served as a football coach, teacher and principal at the various Education Activity schools he now helps oversee. He attended East Tennessee State University, where he earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in education, the profile says.
The chief of staff position for the Americas on the Education Activity’s website is listed as vacant. The Americas division office is in Peachtree City, east of Coweta County.
The Haralson County Sheriff’s Office, which assisted in the investigation, said out of the 26 arrests, 12 were for prostitution, 10 for pandering and four for pimping. Three of the people arrested are under investigation for human trafficking and drugs. The sting, which took place Nov. 15 and 16, rescued six victims of human trafficking.
An undercover officer for Coweta County told WAGA that people who solicit prostitutes are a “huge problem” because they create a market for women to be victimized.
“There’s not a good scenario for them in this lifestyle, so the goal is to get them out of this lifestyle,” she said.
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