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Authorities arrested a man on Friday after they received a tip from a member of the public that revealed he was trying to meetup with a teenager for sexual purposes in Temecula.
On Friday at around 4:30 p.m,. deputies with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department were sent to Nicolas Road Park, located in the 39000 block of Nicolas Road, after learning that an adult was in the area to meet with a minor, according to a statement from the department.
They received the information from a tip, deputies said. They arrived to find a crowd of about 20 juveniles that were recording the encounter. They’re unsure if they had learned of the incident and arrived at the park or if they were conducting some sort of vigilante sting operation on their own.
The man, a 46-year-old Homeland resident named William Vandenbush, was arrested at the scene and booked on suspicion of sending harmful matter to a minor, contacting a minor for sexual purposes and arranging to meet with a minor for sexual purposes, deputies said.
Despite the arrest, RSO officials strongly discouraged residents from conducting their own undercover investigations.
“This action unnecessarily jeopardized the safety of everyone in the vicinity of the park,” a statement said in regards to the crowd of people that gathered.
While many in the community laud the group as heroes, deputies urge the public to keep their own self interests in mind.
“You don’t know who they are. You don’t know their background, and many times when we have set up operations with our department they’re often times arrested and they have firearms on them,” said RSO Sergeant Wenndy Brito-Gonzalez. “There’s the factor of retaliation. You don’t know if these people will run into you or be able to find you online.”
Instead, she urges people who come upon information in a case such as this to immediately contact law enforcement.
Anyone who may know more about the incident is asked to contact investigators at (951) 696-3000.
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