Photo: Stock Image
When the 911 Dispatch Operators at the Ventura County Sheriff’s Communication Center received a series of text messages at 3:00 a.m. on the morning of May 9th, the messages were abundantly clear; they were urgent calls for help.
According to VCSD spokesman Detective Chris Dyer, “the messages were received in Spanish” and needed to be quickly translated into English. Once that was done, it was apparent that the sender of the messages was a female who was completely unaware of her exact location. As the dispatch operators were responding, the sender was able to describe “landmarks and other identifiable information.” That information—developed in real time as things were unfolding at the sender’s location—was cross-referenced with deputies initiating a search for her.
Twenty minutes later, deputies flooded into the Casitas Springs area just south of the City of Ojai and located a female victim. As the preliminary investigation immediately ensued, deputies learned that she had been “trafficked to Ventura County from Mexico” just two months prior by 31-year-old Veracruz, Mexico resident Gerardo Cruz.
With that information hand, detectives attached to the VCSD Major Crimes Bureau Sexual Assault Unit went to work and located Cruz. He was “quickly arrested by deputies” and transported to Ventura County Jail. He was booked on charges of human trafficking, forcible rape, lewd acts upon a child, luring, and sexual penetration with force. He remains in custody with his bail set at $500,000; the 17-year-old victim was provided shelter and appropriate care at Ventura County Child Family Services, soon to be reunited with her family in Mexico.
