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Orange County District Attorney Press Release

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Tony Rackauckas, District Attorney
401 Civic Center Drive West
Santa Ana, CA 92701

For Immediate Release                 January 14, 2014

Contacts:

Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami Spokesperson Office: 714-347-8405 Cell: 714-323-4486

SEVEN MEN CONVICTED OF LOITERING OR AGREEING TO ENGAGE IN PROSTITUTION

 

SANTA ANA – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) convicted six men of loitering or agreeing to engage in prostitution in December 2013 and one man in November 2013. The defendants in these cases approached a woman, whom they believed to be a prostitute, in areas known for prostitution and human trafficking in Orange County. They agreed to engage in commercial sex or loitered with intent to commit prostitution to engage in prostitution with a woman or an undercover officer and were subsequently arrested by law enforcement.

 

Buena Park Police Department, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and Santa Ana Police Department investigated these cases. Deputy District Attorney Michael Bardeen of the HEAT Unit prosecuted these cases.

 

The defendants below each pleaded guilty to either one misdemeanor count of agreeing to engage in prostitution or loitering with the intent to commit prostitution. The defendants were each sentenced up to three years informal probation, up to 15 days in jail with the possibility of CalTrans in lieu of jail, must submit to AIDS testing and education, and some were required to donate to the Victim/Witness Emergency fund.

 

·      Jose Martin Albarran, 27, Hollywood

·      Daniel Granado, 33, Buena Park

·      Rodney George Larson, 56, Huntington Beach

·      Isaac Rudy Ojeda, 20, Santa Ana

·      Pascual Garcia Perez, 30, Santa Ana

·      Gilmer Humberto Ramirez-Hernandez, 25, Santa Ana

·      Juan Hernandez Valencia, 35, Anaheim

 

These cases were prosecuted by the OCDA Human Exploitation And Trafficking (HEAT) Unit, which targets perpetrators who sexually exploit and traffic women and underage girls for financial gain, including pimps, panderers, and human traffickers. Commercial sex trafficking is the second most lucrative criminal enterprise behind narcotics trafficking. Often the perpetrators are gang members and/or career criminals.

 

The HEAT Unit also targets defendants who create a demand for prostitution by soliciting and purchasing sex, which increases the commercial sexual exploitation of women and children. The HEAT Unit uses a tactical plan called PERP: Prosecution of human trafficking perpetrators and sex purchasers; Education for law enforcement to properly handle human trafficking and pandering cases; Resources to raise public awareness and provide assistance to the victims; and Publicity to inform the community about the problem and notify human traffickers and sex purchasers that this crime cannot be perpetrated without suffering severe consequences.  

 

The OCDA announced in April 2013 that he will publicize the names of defendants convicted of sexually exploiting women or children by soliciting sex acts as part of the campaign to reduce the demand of human exploitation and trafficking.

 

A press release will be sent out once a month detailing the arrests and convictions of sex purchasers.

 

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