One suspect was a San Jose fire captain, another was a Sunday school teacher and one was a US postal service employee
SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. —Two dozen men were arrested in a three-day sting operation in Sacramento County, according to the sheriff’s office. The operation was aimed at finding people setting up meetings with children under the age of 13 with the intention of having sex with them.
The sheriff’s office said the suspects range from men in their 20s to 70s.
Officials said several of the men arrested were in positions where they had access to kids or public trust. One suspect was a San Jose fire captain, another was a Sunday school teacher and one was a US postal service employee.
The arrests were part of what the sheriff’s office called “Operation Spring Cleaning.” The sting took place at the end of March.
Officials said undercover officers posed as children under the age of 13 on social media platforms. The officers struck up conversations with the suspects who then arranged to meet with the children.
Yay. More bait-and-switch stings to arrest and register someone for life for the act of sheer stupidity. And not a single sex offender registrant among them.
Congratulations, California. Don’t you feel so much safer?
This is really sad and tragic. The courts and community will vilify, humiliate and destroy the lives of these people and no one will make a mention of how they were probably suffering with the draw towards underage people. It is not a conscious decision, it is some thing inherent. The compulsion can be quieted down considerably, but it takes a willingness and some guidance that is not readily available to those afflicted and certainly not found in prison.
Entrapment. Plain and simple. No crime occurred as none of the officers was a minor.
It’s 2024, I can’t believe they’re still catching people in these stings, how stupid can you be and the fact that they were trying to meet someone under the age of 13 is very disturbing.
Good job by Sacramento County law enforcement agencies for getting these guys off the streets.
A cop pretending to be a minor while having sexual conversations with an adult just to get an arrest, adding more people into the injustice system, and to get more grant money. If minors are online it’s the parent’s responsibility to know who their kids are communicating with and not big diddy government’s job.
“One suspect was a San Jose fire captain, another was a Sunday school teacher and one was a US postal service employee”. So it appears that if your house catches on fire and you have kids, its not safe to call the fire department, some church Sunday school teachers have already been known to be questionable, and it might be a good idea to cancel your mail service if you have kids.
“Officials said several of the men arrested were in positions where they had access to kids or public trust”, why are we not surprised about that?
I have never understood how our courts have ruled these stings to not be entrapment because in my opinion, the majority of the people who get busted probably would have never had the opportunity to talk to a real minor online. Its only when the cops pretend to be a child and initiate the conversation and steer it towards sex is when these guys get busted. I know there really are young girls in adult chatrooms, but I really doubt that they are there looking for sex. Most young girls aren’t going to hook up with a total stranger anyway; they’re going to hook up with a classmate that they know.
The only reason these fools are being charged with a crime is because the police created the opportunity for them to commit a crime. If that’s not entrapment, then I don’t know what is.
But with all the media attention these stings get, I really wish guys would stop falling for them. If they’re really that desperate, they need to go find an escort and pay her to dress up like a young girl.
What sites were they on? That is what I want to know. And who instigated the conversation? And how many actual children would do this and talk like this?
Operation Spring Cleaning…so is this an annual event they plan, prep, and execute? How many other offices/depts/agencies were part of it? I find it interesting they are doing it when the CA legislature is still in session in SAC (thus can be used as great political talking points by those who need them).
“Officials said several of the men arrested were in positions where they had access to kids or public trust. One suspect was a San Jose fire captain, another was a Sunday school teacher and one was a US postal service employee.” Again, the registry helped here how? Anyone know? Were there in any repeat offenders in the lot of those who were arrested and will be charged? Will the fire union stand by their accused employee? I didn’t know the postal employee was considered a position of trust given they don’t regularly interact with minors, but I supposed they could be, especially if they are delivering the mail?
One step closer to the inescapable surveillance of the Populist Police State! The more the populists can “prove” that the internet is “crawling with predators”, the more they get to watch what people are doing!
All Populism requires constant surveillance of everyone and everything. Privacy is one of the many, many, many enemies of the Populist State! If you’re, “one of us” you should have nothing to hide from the State! Only people that, “don’t belong” try to hide things from The People!
Populism thrives on fear!
How does a fire captain have access to children besides giving little brats in grade school a tour of the fire house every once in a while. The lower rank people are usually the ones pulling children from burning buildings while captains shout orders….if he’s on site
Soon the scenario will be that if you are at a fast-food place or any store and ask someone in line a question…and that person is under 18 and what you said could be misinterpreted or made that under 18 person feel uneasy such as asking “Where is the bathroom?” and of course you should have “known” they were under 18…then you will be charged with a felony.
Thank God I was able to petition and get off the registry as a Tier 1, but before they instituted that in California and I got off I had spent 19 years of Hell on it. The only saving grace was that I was never on the Megan’s Law website. But from the whole experience I had well learned my lesson. Heck, I learned my lesson at the moment of my arrest but that doesn’t really count.
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