| For Immediate Release Case # 10WF0325
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Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTING TO HAVE UNLAWFUL SEX WITH FICTITIOUS 13-YEAR-OLD GIRL AFTER RESPONDING TO CRAIGSLIST AD IN UNDERCOVER
INTERNET PREDATOR STING
WESTMINSTER – A registered sex offender was charged and arraigned today for attempting to meet a 13-year-old girl for sex after reading an advertisement, contacting her on craigslist.com, and sending sexually explicit text messages and e-mails. The fictitious 13 year old was actually an undercover investigator from the Huntington Beach Police Department (HBPD). David Walker Bryan, 40, Anaheim, is charged with two felony counts of attempted lewd acts on a child under 14, one felony count of contacting a child with the intent to commit lewd acts, and one felony count of meeting a minor with the intent to commit lewd acts. If convicted on all counts, Bryan faces a maximum sentence of five years in state prison. The defendant is being held on $250,000 bail and is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing March 11, 2010, at 9:00 a.m. in Department W-14, West Justice Center, Westminster.
On March 3, 2010, Bryan is accused of responding to an advertisement on craigslist.com. The ad was placed by HBPD in the “personals” section under “casual encounters,” which listed a 13-year-old girl in need of help. Bryan is accused of contacting the undercover HBPD detective, whom he believed to be a 13-year-old girl, and sending her several graphic, sexually explicit e-mails and text messages, including instructing her to masturbate at school.
The defendant is accused of arranging to meet the fictitious 13 year old on March 4, 2010, at a location he believed to be her home with the intent to engage in illegal sexual activity with a minor. Bryan is accused of asking her to wear red underwear. At approximately 7:00 p.m., the defendant was arrested by HBPD at the pre-arranged location.
Bryan is accused of being a registered sex offender stemming from a 1989 sexual assault case in Arizona.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with additional information or who believes they have been a victim is encouraged to contact Supervising District Attorney Investigator Randy Litwin at (714) 347-8794 or HBPD Detective Alan Caouette at (714) 536-5951.
Deputy District Attorney Eric Scarbrough of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.
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