Sex sting suspect is convicted

The first of 13 men arrested in a well-publicized Internet sex sting case in Laguna Beach has been convicted of seeking sex with a minor.

An unemployed 20-year-old Placentia man was convicted Tuesday of trying to meet and have sex with a fictitious 12-year-old girl with whom he exchanged explicit sexual messages over the Internet in Laguna Beach.

Deep Arora pleaded not guilty on March 28 at the beginning of his four-day trial in Newport Beach’s Harbor Justice Center.

Deputy District Attorney Beth Carmichael, who was the prosecuting attorney, said the jury deliberated for no more than an hour.

Arora is the first defendant to be tried in Orange County as a result of an Internet sting operation conducted by the Laguna Beach Police Department along with Perverted-Justice.com, a nonprofit group aimed at protecting children from Internet sexual predators.

The sting took place Feb. 18, 2006, in a model apartment at a complex on Cozumel Street in Laguna Beach.

Carmichael said Arora exchanged extremely lewd and graphic messages on Yahoo Messenger as well as recorded cell phone calls with what he thought was a 12-year-old girl.

“They’re very sexually explicit, very dirty,” Carmichael said.

Carmichael said Arora was on the way to a rendezvous with the girl within one hour and 45 minutes of the beginning of their conversation over the Internet.

Arora showed up at the sting with a bag of chocolate and condoms, which Carmichael said indicates he was aware he was dealing with a minor. She also said the girl told him she was 12 twice.

According to Carmichael, Arora was convicted of one felony count of attempted lewd acts on a child under 14. He faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison. Arora is scheduled to be sentenced April 27.

Arora, along with 12 other men, was arrested as a result of the Internet sexual predator operation conducted in cooperation with Perverted-Justice.com, the Laguna Beach Police Department, Orange County Probation and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

The remaining defendants are: Robert Carlos Alarcia, 30, Los Angeles, pharmaceutical technician; Shih-Hung Chuang, 32, Hacienda Heights, an importer; Stephen Robert Deck, 53, Carlsbad, Lieutenant of California Highway Patrol; Benjamin Paul McAlister, 22, Loomis, a student; David Phuong Pham, 31, Los Angeles, unemployed; Jonathan Augustine Reese, 41, of Westchester, a supervisor at Starbucks; Norindra Say, 35, of Tustin, an engineer; and Benjamin Alan Taul, 28, of Placentia, a bartender.

Four defendants pleaded guilty. Nery Roberto Folgar, 30, of Alta Dena, a salesperson; Ryan Arnell Mount, 30, of North Hollywood, unemployed; Jimmy Miguel Varela, 33, of Norwalk, unemployed; and John Inkyoo Yi, 44, of Anaheim, a laborer, were each sentenced to one year in jail and ordered to register as a sex offender.