The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office filed felony charges Thursday, July 30, against all five men arrested in a Walnut Creek child predator sting, and police corrected the record on custody status, according to Claycord. Two suspects remain behind bars.

County jail records published Wednesday, July 29, had shown all five men released pending charges. Walnut Creek Police clarified Thursday that the records were wrong. The department did not identify which two suspects remain in custody or explain the basis for their continued detention.

As we reported July 30, the arrests came from a multi-agency operation led by Walnut Creek Police and the Contra Costa County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Each suspect allegedly traveled to Walnut Creek after contacting someone online they believed was a child. The "child" was an undercover investigator.

The charges

All five face three felony counts: attempted lewd acts with a minor, contacting a minor to commit a sex offense, and arranging to meet a minor for sex.

The suspects charged are:

  • Andrew Garcia, 32, of Concord
  • Billie Ray Breland, 29, of Antioch
  • Rudolf Naused Robl, 42, of Germany, who was visiting at the time of his arrest
  • Jacek Markiewicz, 67, of Walnut Creek, who faces an additional charge of attempted kidnapping
  • Taesu Park, 36, of Marin County

Markiewicz is the only Walnut Creek resident among the five.

Multi-agency operation

The sting involved more than a dozen agencies, including the FBI San Francisco field office, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office, and local departments in Concord, Pleasant Hill, San Ramon, and Menlo Park.

Walnut Creek Police said the ICAC Task Force's mission is to identify and arrest online child predators before they can harm a real child through proactive investigations, training, and victim support. The department posted on social media Wednesday, July 29, saying the suspects came to meet a child but met Walnut Creek police instead.

No arraignment date has been publicly disclosed for any of the five defendants.

Anyone with information about online child exploitation can contact the Walnut Creek Police Department or submit a tip to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at CyberTipline.org.