Online predators who target children for sexual gratification are finding out in Colusa County that they are not above the long arm of the law.
During the past eight months, the Colusa County District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigations, in joint operations with the Colusa County Sheriff’s Office, Williams Police Department, and Colusa Police Department, has engaged in a multitude of online sting operations in an attempt to deter sexual predators who use various social media platforms to prey on children.
According to District Attorney Matthew Beauchamp, a total of 16 suspects – ranging in age from 26 to 66 – have been arrested. Many have already been sentenced to prison.
“These on-line deterrence operations are one of the ways law enforcement can pro-actively combat the creation of real victims of sexual abuse by adult sexual predators,” Beauchamp said in a news release.
The undercover operation involved the use of law enforcement decoys who were ultimately contacted by the suspects through messaging applications on specific social media sites, officials said. The adults would typically engage in sexual banter before progressing to sending graphic images of nudity to the decoy minor, arranging to meet the minor, and/or offering to furnish drugs or alcohol in exchange for sex.
Because the suspects would invariably tell the minor decoy, “don’t tell your parents,” the actions of the suspects amounted to felony criminal conduct.
The arrests were typically made when the suspects showed up to meet their intended victims.
Robert Douglas Munro, 66, of Colusa, was arrested April 15 at the Colusa Motel when he arrived to meet who he thought was a 15-year-old girl, according to testimony at his preliminary hearing.
Munro had reportedly promised the decoy he would bring a condom and methamphetamine, which he did, although he initially tried to convince law enforcement that he only showed up to educate the child that meeting a man she met online could be dangerous.
Faced with overwhelming evidence, six special allegations of committing a felony while on bail, and an additional felony charge of use of a minor to violate the controlled substance act, Munro eventually admitted there was a factual basis for the charges and pleaded no contest to meeting a minor for lewd purposes. He was sentenced in Colusa County Superior Court on Sept. 12 to four years in state prison.
Carlos Anthony Gonzalez, 39, of Clearlake, was sentenced the same day to five years in state prison after he admitted to also contacting a minor for sexual purposes and sending harmful matter to a minor.
Gonzalez, who was arrested at a prearranged Bridge Street location on July 6, reportedly had a prior conviction for a similar offense.
On Oct. 3, William Hackett, 40, of Williams, was sentenced to three years in state prison after pleading no contest to meeting a minor for lewd purposes. Hackett reportedly tried to hook up in a Colusa park with a girl he thought was 13 years old but arrived to find only law enforcement officers waiting for him.
A number of others caught in the sting have been sentenced to either probation with jail time or to state prison, largely depending on prior criminal conduct, court records indicate. Others still have their cases pending.
In addition to adults using social media to prey on children for sexual purposes, the FBI is now warning parents of the growing prevalence of adults posing as young girls to coerce young boys to produce sexual images or videos for them and then threatening to post the images online if they do not pay money.
The FBI calls the practice “sextortion” and believes there may be hundreds of victims of such crimes.
“With the ubiquitous nature of modern technology, our children are increasingly vulnerable targets for online predators,” said Kristi Johnson, assistant director in charge of the FBI Los Angeles Division, in a news release. “The most effective way to disrupt these criminals is through awareness, education, and having important discussions with your children about their online safety. If you need some support in doing so, you can find more information and resources at fbi.gov/sextortion.”
Meanwhile, Beauchamp said the protection of our children is one of the greatest responsibilities we have as a community.
“The Colusa County District Attorney’s Office stands ready to take the necessary actions to help stop the targeting of children on the internet,” he said. “The success of the deterrence operations would not have had the level of success they did without the partnership of local law enforcement agencies.” ■