30 men seized in Petaluma sex sting

Thirty men from around the state who went to a Petaluma house expecting to have sex with children were instead caught in a sting orchestrated by an Internet group, a TV show and police, organizers said Monday.

The sting was set up by Petaluma police in collaboration with Perverted Justice, an organization that combats Internet predators. "Dateline NBC," which provides financial support to Perverted Justice, videotaped the arrests for broadcast on "To Catch a Predator." It was unknown when or if the video would be aired.

"We want to send a message to the country that Petaluma and Sonoma County are not a destination for online sexual predators," said Petaluma Police Lt. Danny Fish, who supervised the operation.

The suspects - none of whom were from Petaluma, police said - were lured to the house by volunteers for Perverted Justice, said Xavier Von Erck, the group's founder.

The number of arrests was the second largest in a single sting since the organization began in 2000, Von Erck said.

The group set up fictitious identities in Internet chat rooms for supposed 10- to 13-year-old boys and girls. When men propositioned the decoys, they were invited to the house, Von Erck said.

Waiting for them there were a reporter from "Dateline NBC," hidden cameras and police.

About 60 police officers from Petaluma, Sonoma County, Santa Rosa and the state Bureau of Investigation took part in the operation, which ran from Friday through Sunday, Fish said.

The men who came to the house ranged in age from 20 to 60 but most were in their 30s and 40s, Von Erck said.

They came from all over the Bay Area, and one came from Fresno, Von Erck said.

Police didn't release any names Monday, but the Sonoma County Jail log listed 11 men arrested in Petaluma and booked on suspicion of attempted child molestation over the weekend.

They included residents of Hayward, Visalia, Stockton, San Francisco, Williams, Watsonville and the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base near San Diego.

Fish said a couple of the men were from the Santa Rosa area and the rest were from neighboring counties. Predators often engage in their activities in neighboring communities to avoid detection in their hometowns, he said.

He said all but one of the 30 men were booked into jail on suspicion of attempted lewd or lascivious acts involving children and entry with intent to commit a felony. Bail was set at $30,000.

Von Erck said two Perverted Justice volunteers at the house said about 20 of the men consented to be interviewed and two tried to run but were caught by police.

Petaluma police approached Perverted Justice about doing a sting six months ago, Fish said.

"We didn't want to be reactive," he said. "We wanted to take as many predators off the streets as we could."

Petaluma police will continue to try to catch online predators by running stings on its own, he said.

"This will send a message to online predators that Petaluma is the gateway to San Quentin," City Councilman Mike Healy said.

Since 2004, "Dateline NBC" has broadcast reports on six stings organized in collaboration with Perverted Justice and local law enforcement officials around the country.

Von Erck, 27, leads Perverted Justice's network of about 1,500 volunteers out of his Portland, Ore., house.

He said he created the group after he saw sexual propositions directed at children in Internet chat rooms and realized police were not patroling the Internet.

"This is just another example that this happens everywhere," he said. "These guys will show up and try to meet your children. If you are a parent and don't know anything about the Internet, it's time to learn."

The group's Web site, www.perverted-justice.com, provides advice for parents on how to protect their children from would-be predators, Von Erck said.

Perverted Justice picked Petaluma because of the notoriety of the Polly Klaas murder and because it had not done a sting in Northern California, he said.