Five men were arrested after traveling to Walnut Creek to meet someone they believed was a child for sex, only to find undercover investigators waiting for them, police said.
The Walnut Creek Police Department hosted the multi-agency sting operation in coordination with the Contra Costa County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the department announced Wednesday, July 29. No real child was harmed. Investigators posed as a minor online to intercept suspects before any actual child was contacted.
The operation targeted adults who used social media to solicit children for sexual exploitation.
Who was arrested
Five suspects were booked, ranging in age from 29 to 67:
- A 32-year-old Concord man
- A 29-year-old Antioch man
- A 42-year-old man visiting from Germany
- A 67-year-old Walnut Creek man, who faces an additional charge of attempted kidnapping
- A 36-year-old Marin County man
All five were booked on suspicion of attempted lewd acts with a minor (Penal Code 664/288(a)), contacting a minor to commit a sex offense (PC 288.3(a)), and arranging to meet a minor for sex (PC 288.4(b)).
The Walnut Creek resident faces the most serious allegations, with the attempted kidnapping count on top of the other suspected offenses.
Multi-agency operation
The sting drew personnel from nearly 20 agencies, according to a Walnut Creek Police press release published by Contra Costa News. Participating agencies included the FBI San Francisco, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office, the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office, and police departments from Concord, San Ramon, Pleasant Hill, Moraga, Menlo Park, Hercules, Brentwood, and Oakley.
The San Francisco Sheriff's Office and the Marin County District Attorney's Office also participated.
The department said the ICAC Task Force works to identify predators before a real child is harmed through proactive undercover investigations.
What comes next
The suspects traveled from as far as Germany and Marin County, while others came from Concord and Antioch. One lived in Walnut Creek itself. Formal charging decisions by the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office have not yet been announced, and no court dates are publicly available.
Anyone with information about online child exploitation can contact the Walnut Creek Police Department or report tips to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at CyberTipline.org.
