| For Immediate Release Case # 10WF1220
March 25, 2011 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
MAN SENTENCED FOR ATTEMPTING TO MEET 13-YEAR-OLD GIRL THROUGH CRAIGSLIST AD TO ENGAGE IN ILLEGAL SEX ACTS AFTER EXCHANGING SEXUALLY EXPLICIT E-MAILS
WESTMINSTER – A man was sentenced today for arranging to meet a fictitious 13-year-old girl after responding to a Craigslist ad after exchanging explicit sexual messages over the Internet to engage in illegal sex acts. The ad was posted by the Huntington Beach Police Department (HBPD) officers posing as a 13-year-old girl looking to earn $100 in an effort to catch Internet sexual predators. Gregory Ruiz Aguirre, 53, El Monte, was found guilty by a jury March 2, 2011, of one felony count each of meeting a minor with intent to engage in lewd contact, attempted lewd act on a child under 14, and contacting a child with the intent to commit a specified crime. Aguirre was sentenced of 457 days in jail, 5 years formal probation, and mandatory sex offender registration. As additionally required by his sentence, the defendant faces four years in state prison if he violates his probation.
On May 18, 2010, Aguirre responded to the HBPD Craigslist ad and exchanged several sexually explicit emails with HBPD officers posing as a teen girl. During conversations over the course of several days, the defendant discussed oral copulation and other sexual conduct through computer instant messages and e-mails. He arranged to meet the fictitious girl on May 26, 2010. The defendant drove to the agreed upon location in Huntington Beach. Upon arriving, Aguirre was pulled over by HBPD officers in a marked patrol car and taken into custody.
Deputy District Attorney Eric Scarbrough of the Sexual Assault Unit prosecuted this case.
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