DA Charges 3 Bay Area Suspects Who Tried To Meet Minor For Sex

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — The district attorney's office charged three suspects Monday who separately arranged online to meet a 13-year-old girl for sex, who was actually an undercover officer, after sending her lewd material, prosecutors said.

On Sept. 24 in Menlo Park, detectives from the Menlo Park Police Department arrested Arunkumar Kizhakke Unnikrishnan, 45, of Mountain View; Yony Trochez-Marinez, 33, of San Jose; and Jefferson Aldair Martinez Hernandez, 26, of Oakland.

The San Mateo County District Attorney's Office charged them each with attempted lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14, contacting a minor with intent to commit a sex crime or other serious felony, and arranging or meeting with a minor with intent to engage in lewd or lascivious behavior.

Detectives from the MPD used social media to pose as minors. This operation aimed to identify individuals attempting to solicit children for sex.

Detectives, collaborating with the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, reported that three suspects contacted them. After discovering the minors' ages, the suspects arranged to meet them at various locations within Menlo Park.

They were all booked into the San Mateo County Jail.

The sexual exploitation of children is a problem that impacts all communities, including Menlo Park, police said. The suspects traveled to the area with the specific intent to victimize children, police said.