UPDATE 9/8/14 7:40PM | An eyewitness to the arrest of 23-year-old East Long Beach resident Ryan Booth sent the Post the above video of Los Angeles Police Department Juvenile Division Internet Crimes Against Children detectives serving a search warrant on Friday, September 5 just before 7:00PM.
Booth was taken into custody without incident after a nearly five-hour investigation at a home located on the 2800 block of Rutgers Avenue. The suspect was arrested under California Penal Code 288.7(b), which is defined as any person 18 years of age or older engaging in either oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child 10 years of age or younger. The crime is a felony and carries a possible prison sentence of 15 years to life in state prison.
Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to contact Lieutenant Andrea Grossman at (562) 624-4027 or at 1-877-LAPD-24-7 during non-business hours or weekends. Anonymous tips can be placed by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (222-8477)
Photos by Jason Ruiz
UPDATE 9/8/14 5:40PM | An East Long Beach man was arrested Friday night by Los Angeles Police Department Juvenile Division Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) detectives on charges of having sexual contact with a child under 10 years of age according to a statement released today by the LAPD.
The man, identified as 23-year-old Ryan Booth, was taken into custody on September 5 without incident after a nearly five-hour investigation at a home located on the 2800 block of Rutgers Avenue. Booth was arrested under California Penal Code 288.7(b) which is defined as any person 18 years of age or older engaging in either oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child 10 years old or younger. The crime is a felony and carries a possible prison sentence of 15 years to life in state prison.
The Los Angeles Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, along with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Child Sexual Exploitation Investigations group served the warrant, which was obtained after detectives looked into a lead involving internet postings from an unknown person soliciting child sexual exploitation material. The postings traced back to Booth, who was later discovered to be a contact offender.
The search warrant was served September 5 just before 7PM as federal and local agents descended on the home with guns drawn. When the occupants of the home failed to comply with LAPD officers’ commands to exit the home, the door was breached and officers entered the home and detained two men, who were released after questioning.
Booth, who had recently moved back into the home, which is occupied by his father, was seen talking to officers while seated on the front lawn before being taken inside a mobile investigation unit for further questioning. Shortly before midnight, he was put in handcuffs and placed in the backseat of one of several unmarked taskforce vehicles that dotted the quiet residential street.
The ICAC Taskforce is spearheaded by the LAPD but includes 63 other federal and local agencies that work in together to identify and investigate child predators who use the internet as a means of contacting children or obtaining or distributing child pornography. It was not immediately known if a plea has been entered on Booth’s behalf or at what dollar amount his bail was set.
Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to contact Lieutenant Andrea Grossman at (562) 624-4027 or at 1-877-LAPD-24-7 during non-business hours or weekends. Anonymous tips can be placed by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (222-8477)
East Long Beach Suspect Arrested by Joint Task Force for Internet Crimes Against Children
UPDATE 9/5/14 11:56PM | One man has been taken into custody after hours of investigation and interviews conducted by a joint task force comprised of Homeland Security, FBI, Long Beach Police Department and Los Angeles Police Department officers, after they served a warrant for internet crimes against a child at an East Long Beach home earlier this evening.
Then suspect, who is in his 20s, recently moved into the residence occupied by his father on the 2800 block of Rutgers Avenue. The suspect and a friend had taken up temporary residence at the home according to neighbors interviewed at the scene.
Investigators released the friend and another man who were initially taken out of the home when the task force descended on the residence with guns drawn, knocking down the door when those inside failed to obey commands to exit the home.
Family members of the suspect were interviewed one by one in a mobile investigation unit vehicle which had been parked outside the home for the duration of the investigation, which spanned nearly five hours. Members of the task force were reportedly seen sifting through garbage in the backyard of the home although it was not immediately clear what, if anything, was found.
The man was eventually led in handcuffs to one of several unmarked vehicles that dotted the residential street and placed in the back seat. His father was overheard advising him that he had an attorney and he shouldn’t talk to anyone.
Joint Task Force Serves Search Warrant at East Long Beach Home for Internet Crimes Against Children
9/5/14 8:13PM | A joint task force made up of federal and local agencies served a search warrant for internet crimes against children at a residence in East Long Beach Friday evening.
Both plain clothed and uniformed officers slowly walked down the 2800 block of Rutgers Avenue and circled a home with guns drawn. After several minutes of pounding on the door and ordering the occupants to exit the home, the officers were able to retrieve two people from the residence without incident.
An officer on scene notified residents that members of the Los Angeles Police Department, Long Beach Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were on scene and serving the warrant.
The investigation is ongoing and officers are on the scene collecting evidence and questioning two males who were home at the time of warrant being served, as well as another male who returned home in the middle of the investigation.
Officers were seen talking to the third man as he sat on the front lawn before they moved him into a mobile investigation unit parked outside the home. At this point, no arrests have been made.
Attempts to contact the LAPD’s and LBPD’s public information desks yielded no further information regarding the warrant or the ongoing investigation. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.