| For Immediate Release Case # 13WF0132
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Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR ARRANGING TO MEET AN UNDERAGE GIRL FOR SEX THROUGH CRAIGSLIST
WESTMINSTER – A registered sex offender is scheduled to be arraigned today for arranging to meet an underage girl for sex through Craigslist. Carlton Earl Griner, 55, Garden Grove, is charged with one felony count each of contacting a child with intent to commit a lewd act, meeting a minor with intent to engage in lewd conduct, and attempted lewd act upon a child under 14 years old. If convicted, Griner faces a maximum sentence of 5 years in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration. Griner is being held on $100,000 bail and is scheduled for continued arraignment this morning, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013, at 9:00 a.m. in Department W-2, West Justice Center, Westminster.
Griner is required to register as a sex offender in California based on his prior conviction of possessing child pornography in Iowa.
On January 2013, Griner is accused of posting an advertisement soliciting sex on Craigslist. Griner is accused of exchanging sexually explicit e-mails with a person who Griner believed was a 13-year-old girl but was an undercover Huntington Beach Police Department (HBPD) officer.
On Jan. 9, 2013, the defendant is accused of making arrangements with the undercover officer to meet in a shopping center. Griner is accused of driving to the location of the meeting spot with the intent to have sexual contact with the “13-year-old girl.” Upon arrival, HBPD officers arrested the defendant.
As a lifetime registered sex offender, Griner may be barred from entering County recreational areas and City parks which have passed the Sex Offender Ordinance. Visit www.orangecountyda.com to read the prior press releases on the County’s Sex Offender Ordinance as well as the 14 other cities that have enacted the Child Safety Zone Ordinance.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with additional information or who believes they have been a victim is encouraged to contact HBPD Detective Steven Fong at (714) 536-5960 or Supervising District Attorney Investigator Anthony Sosnowski at (714) 834-8794.
Deputy District Attorney Eric Scarbrough of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.
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