RCAHT Task Force Solicitation of Prostitution Sex-Trafficking Sweep Arrests 13
PALM DESERT – Thirteen suspects were arrested on prostitution charges during a 12-hour Solicitation of Prostitution operation in the city of Palm Desert. On 09/23/2020, members of the Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force (RCAHT) with the assistance of the Palm Desert Special Enforcement Team (SET) and Palm Desert Business District Team (BDT), conducted the sex trafficking demand reduction operation from 11 AM until 11 PM.
“RCAHT, Palm Desert SET and Palm Desert BDT members operated in an undercover capacity, placed decoy advertisements on several popular classified advertisement websites commonly used for the solicitation of online prostitution,” said Sergeant Jose Tijerina. “These same task force members then responded to prospective customers replying to these prostitution advertisements.”
Consequently, “after an agreement for paid sex acts, these “Johns” were then arrested upon their arrival at a pre-determined meeting location,” added Sgt. Tijerina “Concurrently, other task force members negotiated agreed-upon acts of prostitution based upon other escort advertisements that were posted online in the area. In these instances, females who responded to the undercover deputies posing as customers were directed to meet, at which point they were also arrested.”
12 males and 1 female were arrested on misdemeanor prostitution charges:
Diego Vega, 34 of Indio
Abdelmalek Badaa, 63 of Novato
David Seifert, 77 of Indio
Salvador Cuevas, 39 of Indio
Jesus Paredes, 46 of Desert Hot Springs
Gilbert Hernandez, 29 of Indio
Brian Segura, 25 of Coachella
Mario Anguiano, 39 of Cathedral City
Andy Chaides, 29 of Indio
Ashley Casey, 26 of Wesley Chapel, Fl
Irfan Khan, 56 of La Quinta
Tremone Williams, 35 of La Quinta
Andre Forrest, 44 of Beaumont
All subjects arrested were booked and released from the county jail in Indio.
Prostitution is not a “victimless” crime. “95% of sex-trafficking victims are women or children.
Commercial sexual-exploitation victims frequently have long histories of emotional, physical, and/or sexual abuse or trauma in their backgrounds,” said Sgt. Tijerina. “The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates 1 in 6 endangered runaways reported are likely victims of sex trafficking. Sex trafficking victims are often subjected not only to severe forms of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse at the hands of their trafficker, but are also frequently physically and sexually assaulted by those that solicit them for prostitution.”
Mission Statement: The Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force seeks to disrupt and dismantle sex trafficking rings operating within Riverside County and will aggressively identify, pursue, and apprehend those who seek to exploit those who are most vulnerable.
Through proactive enforcement operations, RCAHT works to reduce future demand for sex trafficking by identifying and arresting sex buyers.
