A 41-year-old Sacramento man is behind bars after deputies say he drove to west Roseville to meet someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl. Placer County detectives detained Lloyd Cecil Gary Jr. on July 20 following an undercover sting in which investigators say the contact started online, with Gary allegedly asking for nude photos and pushing for an in-person meetup. The bust is part of an ongoing effort to target suspected online predators in the region.
According to investigators, Gary is booked on multiple counts, including attempted lewd and lascivious acts with a child, communicating with a minor for the purpose of committing an unlawful offense, meeting with a minor to engage in a lewd act, and attempting to furnish a minor with marijuana. His bail is set at $460,000 and he is being held at the South Placer Jail. Detectives say Gary has an extensive criminal history, including prior felony convictions for illegal firearm possession, pimping and pandering, trafficking a minor and narcotics offenses. They add that he tried to destroy evidence by smashing his phone, and that deputies found alcohol and marijuana in his vehicle, according to a post from the Placer County Sheriff's Office.
Online enticement and law enforcement response
Undercover decoy operations remain a go-to tool for law enforcement trying to catch adults who attempt to meet or exploit minors online. Reports of online enticement have climbed sharply in recent years, and the CyberTipline has become the main pipeline that channels those reports to local investigators, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children found.
How investigators say they caught him
Placer County officials say special operations detectives, the Special Investigations Unit, the regional auto-theft taskforce and the agency’s UAS team kept tabs on Gary before moving in to arrest him. Deputies report that he smashed his phone in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence, but the county cyber-crimes unit expects to repair the device and recover data, according to the Placer County Sheriff's Office.
Legal implications
Prosecutors will determine which formal charges to file, but attempted lewd acts with a child and the related offenses are felonies under California law and carry significant prison time if there is a conviction. Penal Code section 288 classifies lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 as a felony punishable by state prison and a conviction can trigger mandatory sex-offender registration, according to California Penal Code §288.
What authorities are asking of the public
The sheriff’s office is reminding parents and guardians that predators frequently use social media, gaming platforms and messaging apps to reach out to children, and is urging anyone with information related to the case or similar behavior to contact authorities. Tips can be reported to the Placer County Sheriff's Office tip line and to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s CyberTipline for online exploitation cases, the Placer County Sheriff's Office and NCMEC note.
