TEMECULA: Undercover sting nets 2 men seeking sex with minor, 7 seeking prostitutes

TEMECULA — Nine men, including eight Riverside County residents, were arrested during “Operation Reclaim and Rebuild.” The sting was part of a statewide, law enforcement effort aimed at sending a clear message that human trafficking will no longer be tolerated in California, according to officials. In all, last week’s operation resulted in more than 500 people arrested for various charges.

According to Task Force officials 56 victims – including 45 adults and 11 underage girls – were rescued during the statewide undercover sting. Since its 2015 inception, the ongoing operation has resulted in the arrest of thousands of suspects and rescue of more than 220 sex trafficking victims.

During the coordinated operation, participating law enforcement agencies throughout California “proactively focused their efforts on rescuing human trafficking victims, identifying and arresting their captors, and disrupting the demand for sex trafficking victims,” Riverside Sheriff’s Sgt. John Sawyer explained after the sting.

Using the premise of meeting a prostitute or juvenile girl at a motel for sex, last week’s Riverside County arrests included men from the cities of Temecula, Murrieta, Corona and Menifee. A Solano County man was also arrested.

Riverside County’s portion of the operation included Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force members working in conjunction with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Temecula Police Station’s Problem Oriented Policing Team, Sawyer explained.

As part of the sting, undercover officials placed “decoy advertisements” on classified websites that are commonly used for the solicitation of prostitution, according to officials.

Posing as a prostitute or an underage female, “these officers then responded to prospective customers who replied to these advertisements,” Sawyer explained. “Once an agreement for prostitution was brokered, the customers were arrested upon their arrival at a pre-determined meeting location.”

Last Thursday’s sting took place at Quality Inn on the 27000 block of Jefferson Avenue, near Winchester Road, in Temecula.

As the sting operation progressed, seven of the men agreed to meet with a person they believed to be a prostitute for sex acts.

Those arrested for solicitation of prostitution, a misdemeanor, included Brandon Lee Crippen, 30, of Fairfield, Joseph Sandoval Gamez, 31, of Murrieta, William Joseph McDaniel II, 25, of Murrieta, Leonzo Pasqual, 40, of Murrieta, Derf Delacruz Rivera, 24, of Corona, Jose Jesus Salazar, 28, of Menifee and Jeffrey Lane Warfield, 50, of Menifee.

Two additional men, including Richard Nathan Woods, 37, of Menifee, who officials allege solicited a person they believed was a “juvenile girl” for sex, were arrested for solicitation of a minor for lewd acts.

All nine men arrested in Riverside County during the statewide operation were booked at Cois Byrd Detention Center. All the men were released within hours of their arrests, after receiving a citation to appear at Murrieta’s Southwest Justice Center, Mar. 26.

SEE ALSO: Hemet resident charged in human trafficking investigation

SEE ALSO: Nearly 500 arrested during statewide human trafficking sting

SEE ALSO: Multi state sex trafficking ring uncovers 20 victims, many juveniles

SEE ALSO: Desert Hot Springs man arrested accused of human trafficking of a minor

SEE ALSO: Last of 3 sought in Palm Desert child sex trafficking ring arrested

Saying prostitution is not a “victimless” crime and that ninety-five percent of sex trafficking victims are women or children, Sawyer explained that RCAHT officials aggressively work to “identify, pursue and apprehend those who seek to exploit those whom are most vulnerable.”

According to officials, victims of commercial sexual exploitation frequently have long histories of emotional, physical, and/or sexual abuse or trauma in their backgrounds. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates that one in six endangered runaways are likely victims of sex trafficking.

The victims are often subjected to severe forms of sexual, emotional and physical abuse at the hands of those who traffic them and are also often sexually and physically assaulted by those who solicit them for prostitution.

In order to “disrupt and dismantle” human and sex trafficking rings operating within Riverside County, Sawyer explained that Task Force members use proactive enforcement operations such as Operation Reclaim and Rebuild to reduce future demand for sex trafficking by identifying and arresting those willing to pay for sex.

The RCAHT Task Force also provides victim services and education/outreach through partnerships with the non-profit groups Operation SafeHouse and Million Kids.

The law enforcement component of RCAHT is currently composed of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Riverside County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigations, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, along with the part-time participation of the Hemet and Riverside Police Departments.

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, who recently moved from Riverside County to Shasta County, runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.