DANVILLE — For a recent 11-day span, police investigators posed as a 13-year-old on various social media and dating apps.
By the 11th day, six different Bay Area residents — including a high school teacher — had been arrested after allegedly showing up to a pre-arranged location in Danville for a sexual encounter with the purported child, authorities said. Now, four of those six men have been charged, and prosecutors are reviewing cases against two more.
Mahmut Guzelsu, 27, of Benicia, Brady Godsey-Lally, 27, of Brentwood, and Elmer Ramirez-Lucha, 45, of Pittsburg, were all charged with arranging to meet a minor with lewd purposes. But one Concord resident, 59-year-old Alexander Hellmund, faces a more serious charge of attempted kidnapping of a minor. That’s because prosecutors allege that he arranged to bring a “13-year-old boy” back to his house for a sexual encounter, unaware the “boy” was really a detective.
The investigation, dubbed Operation Broken Heart, cost one Hayward teacher his job. Joseph Rudolfo Martinez, 38, of Union City, was arrested after allegedly sending a picture of his penis to an undercover officer; police say he snapped the photo in his own English classroom. He has since been fired but not yet charged; prosecutors say they’re still reviewing the case.
A Hayward resident, James Walsh, 44, was also arrested on suspicion of attempted kidnapping, but prosecutors haven’t filed a case against him yet either, authorities said.
In a written statement, Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton said that the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force — a group of officers from various local agencies — is an “integral part of my office’s policies on public safety” and that the undercover stings will continue.