MOUNTAIN VIEW — Investigators are seeking other potential victims following the arrest of a San Jose man on allegations he engaged in sexually explicit texting with minors and sought to meet them in person, according to Mountain View police.
Jarit Edward Bates, 37, was arrested Tuesday in San Jose on suspicion of distributing lewd material to a minor, arranging to meet with a minor for a lewd act, and attempting to meet with a minor for a lewd act, police said.
A police news release stated that Mountain View detectives got a tip several weeks ago alleging that a man was using a texting app to engage in illicit messaging with minors in which he discussed meeting up with them “to engage in inappropriate behavior.”
Mountain View detectives, working with the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children task force run by San Jose police, arrested Bates as he was “intending to meet up with a minor,” police said.
Police said Bates was booked into the Santa Clara County jail; the sheriff’s office confirmed that he was released Wednesday after posting $40,000 bail. Court records showed no criminal charges filed against him as of Wednesday. Because he is out of jail, there is no 48-hour arraignment deadline that typically applies to in-custody arrestees.
Police stated that Bates’ criminal history in Colorado prompted them to explore the possibility of other alleged victims both there and in California. The news release stated that Bates had been previously charged with child abuse, though a court records search did not turn up any entries for such a case. The cases that were retrievable involve misdemeanor traffic and domestic violence charges from 2010 and 2011 that were dismissed, and a 2010 assault charge for which disposition information was not immediately available.
Public records show that Bates has lived in the Bay Area since about 2016.
Police said the arrest should serve as a reminder to parents to be careful about who their children might be messaging with online. Anyone with information about illicit activity linked to Bates can contact Mountain View police Detective Jacob Cesena at Jacob.cesena@mountainview.gov.
Source: www.mercurynews.com