San Jose police arrest 7 suspected of messaging minors for sex
Police in San Jose announced Thursday the arrests of seven people accused of attempting to message minors for sexual acts, following an investigation that took place earlier this month.
According to officers, the investigation stemmed from online communications between April 1 and 4, in which the suspects arranged the meetings and arriving at a location in San Jose.
"The suspects utilized social media applications believing they were communicating with a juvenile under 14 years of age. Some of the suspects offered money in exchange for sexual favors," police said in a statement Thursday.
Detectives with the department's Internet Crimes Against Children unit, the department's Human Trafficking Unit and Covert Response Unit arrested six of the suspects at the arranged meeting locations, while a seventh suspect was arrested at a later date.
Police said the first suspect, 52-year-old Gerardo Rosas of Sunnyvale, was arrested on April 1. The next day, 29-year-old Joseph Elder of San Jose, 25-year-old Ralph Toledo of San Jose and 36-year-old Cristian Josue Garcia Lopez was arrested.
On April 3, police arrested 27-year-old Gures Siyar of Sunnyvale and 29-year-old Nitinkumar Pnchal of Fremont. The final suspect, 47-year-old Charles Madkins of San Jose, was arrested on April 7.
All of the suspects were booked into the Santa Clara County Jail for crimes related to communicating with a minor to commit sexual acts, police said.
Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Detective Camarillo of the Internet Crimes Against Children task force over email or by calling 408-273-2959.
