—By Bay City News Service
A man was arrested last week after a U.S. agent posing as a child online lured him to a meeting in San Jose where he allegedly expected to engage in sex and physical abuse, a spokesman for the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office said.
Shawhan Shams, 23, of Petaluma, was arrested at about 5:35 p.m. Thursday June 13 at an undisclosed location in San Jose on suspicion of attempted lewd acts with a child under 14, sheriff's spokesman Deputy Kurtis Stenderup said.
A San Jose-based special agent from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, working with the sheriff's office and the Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Task Force, contacted the suspect online during an eight-month investigation of child predators, Stenderup said.
Shams told the undercover agent he wanted to meet to have illicit sex and inflict physical abuse, according to Stenderup.
Sheriff's deputies arrested Shams when he appeared at the designated rendezvous spot, Stenderup said.
The suspect admitted to deputies that he intended to engage in illicit sex and abuse of a minor and he possessed items "consistent with illicit sexual activity and physical abuse," Stenderup said.
In addition to the Homeland Security agency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement assisted the sheriff's office in the investigation that led to Shams' arrest, Stenderup said.
Homeland Security worked on the case as part of a national program called Operation Predator, meant to protect children from suspected predators, Stenderup said.
The sheriff's office is the lead organization in the Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Task Force, a law enforcement effort funded by the California Emergency Management Agency, Stenderup said.
The task force includes 12 law enforcement groups working in cooperation to reduce violent sex crimes, monitor convicted sex offenders and investigate predatory crimes against children, he said.
Copyright © 2013 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
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