An investigation is underway for a 25 year veteran of the San Diego Sheriffs Department after a video was posted online of a citizen-led sting operation alleged he was soliciting sex from an underage boy.
A citizen-led group called People v. Preds carried out the sting operation. The group baits predators by posing as minors online. They engage in sexually explicit chats with adults who are under the impression of speaking with minors.
The group documents the encounters and publicly exposes the adults when they are suspected of soliciting the sex of minors in person.
According to Sheriffs officials, Luis Alfredo Rios was a sergeant for about a year and was assigned to San Diego Central Jail. The department said it opened an internal investigation after the video surfaced on Friday night.
The video was posted on Instagram on Friday, which documented the confrontation with a man in a silver SUV in a parking lot alleged to be Rios that intended to meet with an underage boy.
The Activated Podcast posted an audio recording via Twitter of a previous encounter with Rios, in which a member of the group summarizes alleged messages exchanged between Rios and a decoy posing to be a 15-year-old boy in October.
Undersheriff Kelly Martinez reportedly sent a letter to sherifs's employees that acknowledged awareness of “an incident on the internet that an employee of the sheriff's department engaged in potential criminal activity”.
“I am writing you tonight to let you know that all allegations of misconduct, criminal activity, or other violation of public trust by one of our own, will be investigated immediately and thoroughly,” the letter read in a screenshot posted by the Activated Podcast via Twitter.
In the letter, Martinez said “I would like to remind all of us that we hold positions that carry a heavy responsibility. l protect our reputation and your own integrity and honor with the commitment it deserves,” further recommending staff to seek professional and wellness support when needed to cope with the stressors of the job.
Last year, the sheriff's department saw two incidents of its employees sentenced for underage sex crimes in separate cases.
A Chula Vista jury found 41-year-old Earle Daniel Yamamoto guilty in August 2021 of sex crimes against at least two underage girls that prosecutors said occurred between 2012 and 2019.
The deputy worked for the Sheriff’s Department between 2016 and 2019. In October 2021, Yamamoto convicted of 16 felony counts related to rape and child molestation was sentenced to 80 years in state prison.
In June 2021, former sheriff's deputy Jaylen Devon Fleer, 27, pleaded guilty to committing sex acts with an underage girl and trying to meet up with minors for sex. The former deputy, who was a member of the sheriff’s jail and court services unit, was sentenced to 12 years in state prison.
Fleer was arrested in July 2020 after an investigation revealed he had engaged in sex acts with a 14-year-old girl and contacted numerous other underage girls over social media.
