Orange County Man Arrested in Internet Sting Operation
A 55-year-old Orange County man has been arrested for allegedly attempting to meet up with a teenager who turned out to be a cop. As reported by The Los Angeles Times, Huntington Beach police arrested the man during a sting. Officials say the man posted an advertisement soliciting sex on Craigslist and began sending explicit emails to someone whom he allegedly believed was a 13-year-old girl.
He was arrested when he traveled to a shopping center in the hopes of having sex with the minor, officials said. He faces felony charges for contacting a child with intent to commit a lewd act, meeting a minor with intent to engage in lewd contact, and attempting lewd acts upon a child under 14. He is a registered sex offender because he was previously convicted of possessing child pornography.
Attempting to meet up with a minor for sexual relations is a serious crime in California. According to California Penal Code 288.4, “Every person who, motivated by an unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in children, arranges a meeting with a minor or a person he or she believes to be a minor for the purpose of exposing his or her genitals or pubic or rectal area, having the child expose his or her genitals or pubic or rectal area, or engaging in lewd or lascivious behavior, shall be punished.”
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