17 Arrested in Undercover Prostitution Sting
Source: Santa Barbara County Sheriff
As part of an on-going effort in Santa Barbara County to reduce the number of victims being abused by human traffickers, Sheriff’s detectives assigned to the Special Investigations Bureau and Criminal Investigations Bureau conducted a two-day undercover operation in the City of Goleta this past Thursday and Friday night, September 20 and 21, 2018. The purpose of the operation was to curb criminal activity related to purchasing sex. The Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Santa Barbara Police Department and the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office. During the course of the operation, a total of 17 men were arrested for solicitation of prostitution. The men range from 19 to 78 years of age and reside in different areas of the county.
For this particular sting, investigators placed an online ad on several websites known for online prostitution-related advertisements. The advertisement announced the availability of a female willing to engage in sexual acts in exchange for money. Once the ads were placed, an undercover detective negotiated a sexual act for an amount of money. After the negotiation, the undercover detective gave the person the location of the hotel meeting place. Once the person arrived at the location, the person was arrested for solicitation of prostitution. All subjects arrested were cooperative when contacted by arresting detectives.
The following 17 male subjects were arrested, and then booked and released with a notice to appear for violation of 647(b), PC, solicitation of prostitution.
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45-year-old Jeffrey Goddard of Carpinteria
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30-year-old Cassidy King of Carpinteria
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24-year-old Jorge Sifuentes-Dominguez of Goleta
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50-year-old A.Thomas Hunt Jr. of Goleta
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41-year-old Matthew Geanta of Santa Barbara
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48-year-old Juan Pimentel-Campos of Goleta
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39-year-old Jorge Lorca Jr. of Santa Barbara
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55-year-old Dr. Richard Davis of Santa Barbara
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29-year-old Jose Nava-Carbajal of Santa Barbara
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31-year-old Owen Wright of Los Olivos
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34-year-old Soupitak Pal of Goleta
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19-year-old Joshua Silverstein of Santa Barbara
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29-year-old Dimitar Dimtrov of Santa Barbara
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23-year-old Rodolfo Cortes-Avelino of Goleta
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23-year-old Alain Pereira of Santa Barbara
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27-year-old David Joseph Gomez of Santa Barbara
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78-year-old Frank Palmer of Goleta
Davis was also found to be in possession of a loaded needle containing suspected fentanyl and methamphetamine and was booked on an additional charge of possession of a controlled substance. He posted $20,000 bail and was released.
The Sheriff’s Office will continue to conduct stings, which are intended to curb and deter human trafficking throughout Santa Barbara County. Over the years, the number of online prostitution related advertisements have grown substantially. A majority of the women advertised as prostit utes are victims of various types of abuse and/or human trafficking. One issue that drives human trafficking is the demand for women to engage in sexual exploitation. By conducting this type of operation, the intention is to deter people from searching for a prostitute, thereby reducing the demand and reducing the amount of women who fall victim to the abuse of human trafficking.
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65 Comments
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Sep 24, 2018 08:52 PMYou're going after the wrong people....
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Sep 24, 2018 08:58 PMDid they get the Pimp(s)...?
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Sep 24, 2018 09:10 PMWhat a bag full of losers! Google some of these names and check out their priors. These ARE the right guys to arrest. They help support human trafficking and the exploitation of poor young girls sold into slavery. These guys are complete Knuckle heads and deserve a good shakedown by the cops.
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Sep 24, 2018 10:44 PMAmazing use of resources, not! Lets embarrass the community by all these photos that were part of a STING set up by local law enforcement. How much was the grant for this operation? Seriously, nothing better to do than set this up? Kinda like a CHP sitting on the highway looking from someone speeding, just like shooting fish in a barrel. Go SB!
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Sep 24, 2018 11:52 PMMake it legal
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Sep 25, 2018 05:48 AMEvidently they're all guilty without a trial.
Who decided public shaming was acceptable for a crime that might not have even occurred?
This type of law enforcement and publicity seems like something that might be done in Iran or Saudi Arabia.
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Sep 25, 2018 07:51 AMBack in the not-too-distant past, the identity of anyone arrested for any kind of sexual crime was withheld from publication UNTIL CRIMINAL CHARGES WERE FILED. For the Sheriff's Office to release the names AND PICTURES of these suspects is unconscionable. And while I support Edhat 100% in most matters, I question whether publishing these names and pictures is in the best public interest.
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Sep 25, 2018 11:16 AMI think all other arrestees have mugshots that are publicly available. These alleged criminals are not being picked on specifically.
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Sep 25, 2018 05:28 PMBack in the old days at the News-Press, arrest mugshots were rarely published unless it was a crime involving additional victims who might recognize the perpetrator and come forward, or the arrestee was someone well-known whose story -- and photo -- would receive continuing coverage until the person was either convicted or cleared. Readers were too likely to remember the police mugshot and arrest but not the ultimate outcome ("innocent until proven guilty"), editors reasoned.
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Sep 25, 2018 05:50 PMThat was the Old Days their editors were reasonable then.
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Sep 25, 2018 06:56 AMMake fentanyl and meth legal?
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Sep 25, 2018 07:22 AMLOL most of these comments are awesome, they restore my faith in humanity. Love that my tax dollars went to this idiocy, while I still can't walk down State Street for fear of some bum attacking me, or sit on any of the benches there lest I get Hep C. Can I get a refund?
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Sep 25, 2018 08:11 AMIf human trafficking is what the intent is here, to actually combat human trafficking, then they should actually do THAT. Put some real 'boots on the ground' and go after human trafficking. I wonder, was there a lower level trafficker part of this operation who will 'turn' and lead the law to a 'bigger' trafficker. Does not appear so, so, again, another waste. Would love to see what the gal looked like. Entrapment City.
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Sep 25, 2018 08:38 AMI would like to see the ad or hear arrangements being made to meet - curious if dudes were looking for under-age females. If that were the case I'd say more power to the sting.
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Sep 25, 2018 09:01 AMSprigofsage - if this involved an ad for an under-age female (or male), then that fact would be plastered all over this article. It's not, so I am 99.999999% sure it wasn't so.
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Sep 25, 2018 09:10 AMTrue 1754.
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Sep 25, 2018 08:44 AMI say good job, must start somewhere, wow and DR. Davis had some big plans it appears, really scary. Society, teaching lessons to people never ends, maybe some of them learned something.
You can’t just sit on the wayside and watch. Do something.
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Sep 25, 2018 08:46 AMBusting the pimps is the only way to make a dent in human trafficking, not shaming these lonely guys for trying to pay for a little "love." Sure, these guys committed a crime, but a minor one. If you really want to make a difference, focus on the pimps and traffickers, not the "users!" Do you really think any of these guys have the intel or knowledge to help bust the actual traffickers? No, they're just sad and lonely men, and now they are publicly shamed for falling into the cops' misguided trap. Shame on you SB Sheriff's Dept!
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Sep 25, 2018 08:53 AMI can’t help but wonder if the posters protesting this successful sting have been or would be customers who put their own safety at risk. And how many are female? I’m guessing none
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Sep 25, 2018 08:55 AMShorebird - what was "successful" about this? Did any traffickers get taken down? No. Were any women put at risk? No. What exactly was so great about this?
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Sep 25, 2018 11:21 AMLaw breakers arrested.
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Sep 25, 2018 11:22 AMLaw breakers arrested.
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Sep 25, 2018 01:53 PMFemale in her 50's here and I'm darn sure protesting this sting!
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Sep 25, 2018 09:34 AMPolice doing their job.
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Sep 25, 2018 09:34 AMThe D.A.'s office needs a change- Joyce Dudley, it's time to retire.
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Sep 25, 2018 12:20 PMJoyce Dudley rules like the New York authoritarian she is an quite proud of that. Keep in mind this SB College of Law CLOWN stole her job form another DA dying of cancer and fires immediately (Josh Lynne) anyone who dare oppose her. Theres a weird thing going on in the DA office and everyone knows it who works there. Get in line or get out is the policy. I know of those who've been fired there for raising questions on ethics, it's small town BS.
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Sep 25, 2018 01:58 PMDoggy, lots of unfounded accusations in your post. If you can back any of it up with facts, it would be very interesting. Can you?
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Sep 26, 2018 09:47 AMPITMIX - If you've been following the national news lately you've observed that facts no longer matter. It is accusations (whether true or not) that can bring down anyone. It is now guilty until proven innocent. So why not just throw all accusations against the wall and see if any of them stick?
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Sep 25, 2018 09:35 AMThe problem is that EdHat is NOT news. They are not journalists, nor do they adhere to any ethical code of conduct other than the words of "Peter"... There is no editorial integrity nor any validation or verification of facts. EdHat is a local gossip website / community and this reeks of gossip and shame. In fact, shame on Edhat for publishing such sensationalist drivel while ignoring all sorts of other issues and crimes.
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Sep 25, 2018 09:48 AMSANTABARBAROBSERVER - as much as I despise this "sting" and public shaming, it's all over all the other local news sites, so I wouldn't necessarily blame Edhat for spreading gossip on this one.
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Sep 25, 2018 09:54 AMThank Dog we aien't journalists! Boy put the Homeless and someone from another land some of you are all over their crap a few guys out for some paid fun were SATAN...Will I'm proud to be an evil S.O.B. observe This...
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Sep 25, 2018 10:54 AMare you calling Edhat fake news??
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Sep 25, 2018 12:23 PMseriously? where is the journalism???? that is FUNNY! edhat is a blog, it posts things that are happening. that's it. there is no JOURNALISM ON EDHAT. you want journalism, watch Frontline.
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Sep 25, 2018 04:19 PMThat's Saint Peter to you!
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Sep 28, 2018 01:44 AMSo you, and those who agreed with you by upvoting your post, read Edhat just to criticize it? HA! ha ha. Yes, Edhat IS A BLOG. Best to you, I hope you find more good outlets.
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Sep 25, 2018 10:20 AMNobody else will have sex with those guys, so what do you expect? They gotta pay for it.
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Sep 28, 2018 01:46 AMThis is a very important point. There are many men out there who don't have any sexual partners, want one, but don't conform to a vision of desirable. Of course paid-for sex should be legal! -- a woman.
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Sep 25, 2018 10:46 AMThat one guy looks happy he got arrested he's not complaining.
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Sep 25, 2018 11:02 AMYeah - Ginger dude looks like he's having a good time.
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Sep 25, 2018 11:02 AMI thought he looked high AF on something and hasn't quite realized that his mug is gonna be around for solicitation of prostitution. Also might be his first offense, so he's used to smiling for pictures.
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Sep 26, 2018 11:04 PMMaybe he got his picture taken "after".
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Sep 25, 2018 11:25 AMI think the people who are angry pay for it too...
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Sep 25, 2018 11:32 AMSANTABARBARAOBSERVER: I hope others can observe my reply to your comment before your comment is deleted. My friendly advice to you would be for you to consider giving up accessing Edhat. If you continue scrutinizing Edhat, you may suffer some sort of stress attack due to your overblown expectations of what Edhat should contain and publish. Edhat isn't "all that." It's a site for people to peruse at leisure, perhaps gaining a bit of knowledge about local events and police reports and such. Commenters on Edhat use words like "picticular" (particular) and "your" (instead of "you're"). Edhat staff writers sometimes lack grammar skills (not a lot, but sometimes) and at times the headline captions, written poorly, are a laugh riot. You should take it all with a grain of salt, kick back and enjoy the fact that Edhat is a homespun, rustic effort that has its faults but is nothing if not entertaining.
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Sep 26, 2018 07:58 AMI am very sorry that you conflate an opinion on the editorial integrity of a this site with a personal attack on you. EdHat is great for many things (gossip, nostalgia, "what's that siren?") but its not a news service. Not sure why you take that so personally, its simply a fact. EdHat selectively publishes stories based on what they deem worthy - its without any consistency or with journalistic integrity and to make matters worse, they consistently censor comments and stories they personally do not like or that run against their Pollyanna grain... Totally within their right and that's fine but dont confuse that journalism and you wont be so upset when people point out the obvious flaws in their editorial oversight. Shaming innocent men is not a decent act, its cheap and it undermines any semblance of editorial integrity. Its illegal in most countries and it should be illegal in ours. These people are innocent until proven guilty. Remember that and you will not feel so righteous in your condemnation of me or of these and other people shamed by gossip.
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Sep 28, 2018 01:52 AMI criticized your earlier post. I wish you originally had said what you say here, beginning with the word "shaming." I AGREE.
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Sep 25, 2018 11:39 AMIf a website is going to publish photos and names of people arrested for a crime they need to publish EVERY photo and name for every person arrested for any crime
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Sep 25, 2018 01:55 PMAccording to which law or general custom? I don't think that's the way the world works.
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Sep 25, 2018 03:35 PMBooking photos are a matter of public record. If you can’t do the time..........
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