Photo-texting Felony Bust
May 2 – Carpinteria
A Fillmore, Ca. resident was arrested on May 1st and booked on felony charges of sending harmful material to a minor with intent to seduce after being spotted in a public park in the company of an underage female during regular school hours.
Joel Arana
According to Drew Sugars, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Public Information Officer, “at approximately 10:00 a.m. a Carpinteria patrol unit witnessed the couple walking exiting Marsh Park and made contact with them.” The Carpinteria Salt Marsh is a local wildlife habitat popular with local and tourists, featuring pedestrian bridges and public trails between U.S. 101 and Sandyland Beach.
When the deputy questioned the girl, she admitted that she had played hooky from school for the purposes of a rendez-vous with her male companion.
Marsh Park, where the pair was spotted by alert Sheriff's Deputies
ID checks and further questioning on the scene revealed that the male, Joel Arana, had initially made contact with the girl over the internet, and had subsequently communicated with her via cellphone. The deputy then conducted “a probable cause search of each party’s cellphones”, Sugars reported, “and discovered sexually explicit material” had been transmitted to the teenage girl. The girl informed the deputy that she had been led to believe that Arana was younger than his 23 years.
Arana was arrested and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail with bail set at $20,000 bail.
Photo: courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking, Land Trust for Santa Barbara County
Read more:
Noozhawk: Man Charged With Sending Explicit Photos to Carpinteria Teen
vcstar.com: Fillmore man arrested in Carpinteria on suspicion of sending explicit photos to teen
