RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Twenty-five suspected child predators were arrested in Riverside County following a month-long operation combatting human trafficking.
“Operation Intercept,” conducted by the Riverside County Child Exploitation Team (RCCET) in partnership with the Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking, was a proactive undercover enforcement operation with the intent to locate possible sexual predators who actively look for minors on social media platforms for the purpose of committing lewd acts.
The operation was meant to reduce the number of internet child predators throughout Riverside County.
By using covert social media and communication platforms, task force members communicated with potential child predators.
“The predator starts an online conversation with the undercover task force members and solicits a sexual conversation with someone the predator believes is a minor. During those conversations, the subject arranges a meeting with the intent to commit a lewd act with the minor. However, when they arrive at the predetermined meeting location to meet the person they believe to be a minor, they are instead met by task force members and arrested,” authorities wrote in a press release.
The following suspects were arrested on suspicion of soliciting a minor with the intent to engage in lewd sex acts:
…
The following suspect was arrested on suspicion of soliciting a minor, possession of child exploitation material and distributing child exploitation material:
…
The following suspects were arrested on suspicion of soliciting a minor, arranging to meet with the intent to engage in lewd sex acts with a minor and possession of a firearm:
…
Authorities reminded parents to monitor their children’s online activity, social media/gaming platforms and who they are communicating with on the different online platforms. Anyone with questions about this operation can contact Riverside County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jose Tijerina or Sgt. Robert Menchaca of the RCAHT task force at 951-955-1700.
“The predator starts an online conversation with the undercover task force members and solicits a sexual conversation with someone the predator believes is a minor.”
How do these investigators get lucky enough for someone to randomly contact them out of the hundreds of million of minors that are on Facebook and other social media sites? Are they creating profiles that are just short of being CP to entice people?
By using the word “predator” this is probably defamation, and because authorities use it, it has a legal definition. Since these people have not been convicted for the sting, the term cannot apply.
Panning for money.
Good Lord, when are they going to stop these BS stings?? How can this crap be legal??
This is nothing more than “child protection theater”.
No actual children were involved…. nor even at risk.
And who is really safer now? The taxpaying citizens who they’ve just dragged through the media mud?? The public gets to snicker and point at the naughty men, do they feel superior? Pathetic. 😒
Police and laws doing the work of the parents and parenting.
Nothing new here in the good ol US of A.
They should stop for a moment and realize that every time they announce these stupid sting operations, the real criminals are just going to lay low for a while or move to a different platform and learn from this. The only people that get busted or one timers that , yes, need to be slapped for their actions. But for the most part are in no way predators.
It would be interesting to see how many have had previous related charges/ convictions or better yet have had any issues or complaints related to this. I bet even that number is crazy low.
Meanwhile , the “30 previous arrests” gangsters that are beating on women at gas stations and killing kids in drive by shootings laugh as they are released to a 1/2 way house yet again.
Its 2021 how do people still get cought up in these sting operation it’s kinda hard to have sympathy for them.
Riverside county law enforcement agencies did a good job getting these people off the streets in my opinion
Good luck 😇
Operation publicity for the ignorant masses who can’t think for themselves and have no idea how to be a parent. A list and stings aren’t going to keep your kid safe, that’s your job to protect them.
The term predator should only be used for repeat offenders! I doubt this is the 1st time any of these men have been online doing this. This might be the 1st time they got caught? Anyone online doing this today with the media attention out there has issues. Case and point. I’m not sure what to say
Here we are again discussing the people’s unfettered use of the database.
Here again we see how the people and their children are exploited, even by those pretending to be children with the aid of the database driven infrastructure. Much of the cyber exploitation was not possible before its arrival, now exploitation goes on endlessly exacerbated via the database. The Sex Offender Registry regime paved the way! If man can enslave man to database there can be no limit to its potential use good or bad. Who protects human sovereignty from the database machine?
Nobody in their right mind should be chatting with underage kids nowadays. Sex offender info is all over the place. Go chat with a 18 year old. Remember, how often do you get caught the 1st time? These males/females need to wake up
Enough with the blanket judgements of people caught in stings. You don’t know the circumstances or situations that caused them to be online in the first place. I don’t like the blanket restrictions on all forced to register, just like I don’t like the blanket judgements on people caught up in stings. We should stand up for all people forced to register regardless of their crime. If we can’t have empathy for others you are no better than the registry supporters.
What caused them to be online? They where obviously looking for kids! These investigators always make sure they know they are underage snd the perp must start doing what they do!
Creating a crime to catch people doing something wrong is the next step towards arresting someone in anticipation of them possibly doing something in the future. The only reason this type of entrapment is not screamed about by the public is that catch all phrase ‘ protect children’.
Any predatory behavior is bad. It is unfortunate that these men feel compelled to act in this way. But why don’t police send a case of whiskey to an alcoholic’s home and then wait for them to get behind the wheel of their car. Or call a thief and tell them where they can find a stack of money, then arrest them when they show up. Enticing someone’s mental or physically weakness is not solving the problem. The police are just so called anxious for these people to maybe do something that they would rather not wait, so out comes the ‘ public safety’ or ‘ keeping children safe’ tag line and all the entrapment and skirting civil rights is forgiven.
Riverside County tried three time to lure me into sex with a minor when I was on probation.
The first attempt was when I just had gotten my probation transferred to CA from another state. I received provocative images in text from an unknown number that I was not able to trace, even by using White Pages. I did not respond to the text. I did NOT block the number. There was a second attempt, another nearly nude image of a very young woman in a provocative pose. I mentioned this in a now defunct offender forum and one of the other members suggested it was law enforcement. She, YES, she suggested that I change my number and ONLY report the change to my PO, no friends, no family, no one else. She suspected that it was my CA PO and not my originating state PO.
So I did just that. Changed my number and gave it to only my PO. It took almost a month, but BOOM, another photo and text. At my next monthly check in I told him what I had done. He vehemently denied it, even when I told him the chain of events AND showed him the message and call history, which the only contact the phone ever received was from that same number. He pretended to show concern, took my phone to check it for CP, lol, and then copied the number and said he would look into it.
I never received another text EVER and just shy of 20 years later, I have the same number and not only does everyone know it, it comes up sometimes when my name is searched because I used it for business.
So my experience tells me that stings might snare men and women who are actively looking to bang one out with a kid, but that if they think they can get away with it, they will try to lure you first, entrap you and do what they can to get you locked up.
It is that time of year that Police Departments in CA have to justify their budgets or lose funding…following the money trail..it is approx the same time every year they have these round-ups.
I agree with Eagle 1. I’m a 17b/expunged with a COR/off the registry and people nowadays should know better. I was searching the Megan’s Law website and I was blown away by how many child related/many no victims where on there (intent/possessing child related material/intent to meet). Many of the individuals looked like dumb kids. I will say this. They intended to meet? What would have happened if they met someone? Or, why did they possess child related photos? I get it. People can be curious, but intent is intent. I don’t agree with the registry, but some of the individuals where repeat offenders and I was also shocked how many women where on the Megan’s law site for child molestation. The scary /sad part is many people aren’t listed/others? Things will change in January. I’ve been blessed to be off/I’m presently re-applying for a professional license. The point is the registry ruins lives, we all hate it and I just wish everyone the best. If this site didn’t exist or had Janice not accepted my call back in 2020, I would still be on the registry. Best wishes. LA is much more friendly to our cause. I would be running ASAP to LA with their liberal DA. I was almost shocked at how easy my request was 🙂