An Orange County man, who is also a convicted sex offender, has been arrested and charged with attempting to solicit sex from minors using the website Reddit. Shaw Warrington, 34, from San Juan Capistrano, was taken into custody after being indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple charges related to his alleged online activities, as officially reported on May 23rd by the Department of Justice.
Warrington, facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison, has been slapped with five counts, including attempted enticement of a minor and attempted production of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). During arraignment in the United States District Court in Santa Ana, he entered a plea of not guilty. The magistrate ordered him jailed without bond, with a trial date set for July 16. The indictment, unsealed today, details that in January and February of last year, Warrington tried to engage with what he thought were minors in Orange County on Reddit, but he was communicating with undercover law enforcement.
According to the indictment, an undercover operative intercepted Warrington's solicitation and set a trap at a Newport Beach shopping center. Anticipating lewd conduct, instead, he met the waiting arms of the authorities. A subsequent search of his cell phone unearthed two images depicting child sexual exploitation.
Additional incriminating evidence was found in Warrington's residence, where law enforcement seized a firearm and over 350 rounds of ammunition, which he is prohibited from possessing due to his prior felony conviction. Back in 2013, Warrington was convicted for attempting to meet a minor with the intent to commit lewd conduct. That felony requires him to register as a sex offender, a status that compounds his legal troubles given the new indictment.
If convicted on all counts, Warrington could see a maximum sentence that effectively locks him away for life. The case is being rigorously prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Caitlin J. Campbell of the Santa Ana Branch Office, while the FBI teamed up with the Newport Beach Police Department for the investigation leading to Warrington's arrest.
