Edhat Staff
Source: Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office
Eight people were arrested for prostitution related crimes following an undercover operation conducted at a Santa Maria hotel on August 10, 2017 by Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s detectives assigned to the Special Investigations Bureau and Criminal Investigations Bureau. The sting is part of an ongoing effort to combat Human Trafficking in Santa Barbara County. This has partially been made possible by both the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office and the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office receiving a federal grant addressing Human Trafficking in late 2016. Both offices collaborate together to investigate, prosecute, and provide victim services.
For this particular sting, investigators placed an online add on a publicly accessible website 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 ad was placed, an under cover detective negotiated with an inquiring person or “John”, a sexual act for an amount of money. After the negotiation, the undercover detective gave the person the location of the hotel to meet for the sex act. Once the person arrived at the location, the person was arrested for solicitation of prostitution. It should be noted, that all subjects arrested were cooperative when contacted by arresting detectives.
The following five male subjects were arrested, and then booked and released with a notice to appear for violation of solicitation of prostitution.
23-year-old Alexis Oliveros of Santa Maria
69-year-old Walter Thomas of Lompoc
27-year-old Samuel Fast of Santa Maria
24-year-old Christopher Rodgers of Santa Maria
53-year-old Wayne Pong of Santa Maria
The following two male subjects were arrested during the operation and booked for additional narcotic related charges since the suspect had negotiated a sex act in exchange for cocaine.
20-year-old Braulio Cisneros-Chavez of Paso Robles was booked on charges of solicitation of prostitution, possession of cocaine for sale, transportation of cocaine and conspiracy. 23-year-old Christian Rodriguez-Ibarra of Paso Robles was booked on charges of possession of cocaine for sale, transportation of cocaine and conspiracy.
61-year-old Edward Scheuerman of Paso Robles was arrested when he arrived at the location after negotiating a sex act with a person he believed was under the age of 18. He was booked at the jail on charges of arriving to meet a minor for a lewd purpose and for solicitation of prostitution.
The Sheriff’s Office will continue to conduct these type of stings and other human trafficking related stings throughout Santa Barbara County. Over the years, the number of online prostitution related advertisements have grown substantially. A majority of the women who engage in prostitution are victims o f various types of abuse and/or human trafficking. One issue that drives human trafficking is the demand for women to engage in prostitution. By conducting this type of operation, the intention is to deter people or the “Johns” from searching for a prostitute, thereby reducing the demand and hopefully reducing the amount of women who fall victim to the abuse of human trafficking.
