RIVERSIDE COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENTSheriff Chad Bianco |
| Press Release: | Online Solicitation of Sex with a Minor
|
| Station Area: | Palm Desert |
| Written Date: | March 25, 2021 | Time: | 9:00 PM |
| Incident Date: | March 22, 2021 | Time: | 11:25 PM |
| Incident Location: | 72-900 block of Highway 111, Palm Desert
|
| Reporting Officer: | Sergeant Jose Tijerina
|
| File Number(s): | R210840007
|
 |
| Ramiro Rodriguez |
Details:
On Monday, March 22, 2021, members of the Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force (RCAHT) conducted an undercover operation for soliciting sex of a minor online and through social media platforms. During the operation, RCAHT members posed as a 13-year-old female.
Ramiro Rodriguez, 35 of Thousand Palms, initiated an online conversation with the goal of soliciting a sexual encounter with a 13-year-old minor. Through the conversation Rodriguez arranged to meet the online decoy with the intent to engage in lewd acts. RCAHT with the assistance of the Palm Desert Special Enforcement Team (SET) arrested Rodriguez when he arrived at the 72-900 block of Highway 111, Palm Desert for attempting to meet who he believed to be a 13-year-old minor to engage in lewd acts. Rodriguez was transported to the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio.
The Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force is asking anyone with additional information to contact RCAHT Task Force Investigator Julio Oseguera at (760) 836-1600 or call anonymously at (760) 341-STOP (7867) and reference incident # R21 084 0007.
The eastern Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force was formed in March 2020 to address crimes involving the exploitation of victims via force, fraud, or coercion in the eastern half of the Coachella Valley. 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, 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.
For media inquiries regarding this incident please contact the Media Information Bureau.