SAN DIEGO — A former San Diego County sheriff's sergeant who was arrested after an online video surfaced claiming he was trying to meet with minors for sex was sentenced Tuesday to two years of probation.
The investigation into Luis Rios, 55, began after the citizens' group People V. Preds alleged Rios attempted to solicit sex from a person he believed was a 15-year-old boy.
Members of the group typically pose as minors, then attempt to meet with adults who arrange for sexual encounters and expose them on video.
Group members said Rios engaged in sexually explicit conversations with at least one supposed teenager, then attempted to meet with a minor in public.
In one video, a member of People V. Preds encounters an SUV driver they said was Rios in a shopping center parking lot. The driver states that he was there to pick up food, while the person shooting the video accuses the driver of being there to meet with a minor.
When the cameraman asks the SUV driver about his conversations with teens, the man drives off.
A criminal complaint filed against Rios states the meet-up attempt happened in March 2022.
Rios, who pleaded guilty to a felony count of contacting a minor with the intent to commit a sexual offense, was also sentenced Tuesday to a suspended one-year jail term. He will have to serve that year in custody if he violates the terms of his probation, which include wearing a GPS monitoring device and completing a sex offender treatment program.
"He also has to register as a sex offender. And that is potentially a lifetime registration. And that is ultimately decided by the Department of Justice," Deputy District Attorney Ramona McCarthy told reporters outside court.
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