Press Releases

Details:

The Riverside County Sheriff Department Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force (RCAHT) in partnership with the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigations Riverside County Child Exploitation Team (RCCET) conducted a month-long proactive undercover enforcement operation that targeted child predators.  The intent of Operation Intercept was to locate potential sexual predators who actively sought minors on social media platforms for the purpose of committing lewd acts. This operation was also meant to reduce Internet “child predators” actively seeking to commit lewd acts with minors throughout Riverside County.

Task force members utilized covert social media and communication platforms to communicate with potential child predators looking to engage in lewd acts with a minor under the age of 14. The subjects initiated an online conversation with the undercover operators for the purpose of soliciting a sexual encounter.  Through the communication, the subjects arranged to meet the online undercover operator with the intent to engage in lewd sex acts. When the subjects arrived at the predetermined meeting location, task force members contacted and arrested the subjects. 

During Operation Intercept a total of 25 subjects were arrested for the following: 

Arrested for Soliciting of a Minor with the intent to engage in lewd sex acts:

Demitri Caballero, 25 of Indio 

Jose Ortega, 38 of Indio

Evan Grill, 58 of Los Angeles 

Arrested for Soliciting of a Minor, Possession of Child Pornography and Distributing Child Pornography:

Stuart Campbell, 46 of Pomona 

 Arrested for Soliciting of a Minor, Arranging to meet with the intent to engage in lewd sex acts with a minor and Possession of a firearm:

 Ismael Rodriguez, 38 of Indio

Scott Miller, 39 of Murrieta

James Renfroe, 34 of Riverside 

 Arrested for Soliciting of a Minor, Arranging to meet with the intent to engage in lewd sex acts with a minor and violation of parole:

 Hilario Mendoza, 45 of Apple Valley 

 Arrested for Soliciting of a Minor and Arranging to meet with the intent to engage in lewd sex acts with a minor:

 Johnathan Ross, 22 of Apple Valley

Salvador Reveles, 34 of Compton 

Veston Ash, 48 of Desert Hot Springs  

Kristopher Sandoval, 32 of Fontana 

Ramon Gomez, 45 of Lake Elsinore 

Richard Wooten, 41 of Indio

Ryan Vernola, 29 of Indio 

Sean Aluoto, 43 of Irvine 

Change Sawyer, 22 of Palm Desert

Marino Lopez, 30 of Palm Desert

Apolonio Luciano, 40 of Palm Springs 

Jesse Rojero, 35 of Perris

Jesus Nunez, 61 of Moreno Valley 

Anthony Boyd, 30 of Riverside 

James Logan, 30 of Riverside

Joshua Rivera, 32 of Rosemead

Ramiro Rodriguez, 35 of Thousand Palms

Subjects arrested during this operation were transported to a Riverside County Detention Center.

RCAHT and RCCET will continue to conduct proactive operations to locate and apprehend online predators to protect the community and children in the county of Riverside. RCAHT and RCCET reminds parents/legal guardians to monitor their children’s online activity, social media/gaming platforms and who they are communicating with in the different online platforms.   

Anyone with questions about this operation can contact Sergeant Jose Tijerina or Sergeant Robert Menchaca of the RCAHT Task Force at (951) 955-1700.

RCAHT:

The Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force was formed in 2010 and the eastern Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force was formed in 2020. Both address crimes involving the exploitation of victims via force, fraud, or coercion. These cases often involve the commercial sex trafficking of children, as well as incidents of forced labor, indentured servitude, debt bondage, or slavery. The RCAHT Task Force is a multidisciplinary task force that combines the investigative resources of both local and federal law enforcement. The RCAHT Task Force also provides victim services and education/outreach through partnerships with the non-profit groups Operation Safe House, Rebirth Homes, Run 2 Rescue, and Million Kids.  The law enforcement component of RCAHT is currently composed of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigations, Homeland Security Investigations, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Riverside County Probation Department, along with part-time participation of the Hemet Police Department, Riverside Police Department, and Desert Hot Springs Police Department.

RCCET:

 RCCET works in partnership with the following agencies: Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, the Beaumont, Murrieta, and Riverside police departments, California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, FBI, the Inland Regional Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking task force, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Marshals Service.