A former San Diego County sheriff’s sergeant who was arrested after a video surfaced claiming he was trying to solicit sex from minor teens online was sentenced Tuesday to two years of probation.
The investigation into Luis Rios, 55, began after the citizens’ group People V. Preds claimed that Rios had attempted to meet up with a person he believed was a 15-year-old boy.
Members of the group typically pose as minors, then attempt to meet with adults who arrange for sexual encounters and expose them on video.
In one video posted online, a member of People V. Preds encounters an SUV driver alleged to be Rios in a shopping center parking lot. The driver says that he was there to pick up food, while the person shooting the video accuses the driver of being there to meet with a minor.
When the cameraman asks the SUV driver about his conversations with teens, the man drives off.
A criminal complaint filed against Rios states that the meet-up attempt happened in March 2022.
Rios, who pleaded guilty to a felony count of contacting a minor with the intent to commit a sexual offense, was also sentenced Tuesday to a suspended one-year jail term. He will have to serve that year in custody if he violates the terms of his probation, which include wearing a GPS monitoring device and completing a sex offender treatment program.
City News Service contributed to this report.
