Community
Communicating/Arranging to meet minor for a sexual offense, Possession/Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)
| Nature of Incident: | Communicating/Arranging to meet minor for a sexual offense, Possession/Distribution of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) |
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| Report Number: | 25-16794 and 25-23557 | ||||||
| Location: | City Of Thousand Oaks | ||||||
| Unit(s) Responsible: | Ventura County Sheriff’s Office East County Major Crimes Sexual Assault Unit |
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| (S)uspects, (V)ictims, (P)arty, (D)ecedent |
City of Residence |
Age | |||||
| (S) Gary Larson |
Camarillo, CA |
67 |
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| Narrative: |
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| Suspect was arrested in communicating/arranging to meet a minor for a sexual offense and was in possession and distributed child sexual abuse material (CSAM). On February 8, 2025, Thousand Oaks Patrol Deputies responded to Target, located at 2705 Teller Road in Newbury Park, in reference to a possible child crime investigation. Once on scene, deputies spoke with members of an organization named “Predator Poachers” who were speaking with a subject, (S) Gary Larson, who they believed had been communicating with one of their team members disguised as a 13-year-old female. Predator Poachers is a non-law enforcement organization based out of Texas which conduct sting operations across the United States on adults who seek sexual activities with minors. During the initial investigation, Larson admitted to speaking with female juveniles. One of the conversations included sexually explicit acts he was seeking to engage in with the juvenile. In addition, Larson admitted to sending explicit photographs to one of the female juveniles. Larson was arrested and the East County Major Crimes Sexual Assault Unit conducted an extensive investigation in which he was found to be in possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), active in multiple group chats on messaging applications, and had traded various CSAM videos and images. Larson was arrested and booked at the Ventura County Main Jail for: PC 288.3(a)-Communicating with a minor to commit a sexual offense PC 288.4(b) - Arranging a meeting with a minor for the purpose of lewd or lascivious acts PC 311.11(a) - Possession of child pornography PC 311.1(a)- Distribution of child pornography On 2-11-25, Larson posted bail for $100,000.00. A records check revealed Larson was involved in coaching youth soccer and giving private tennis lessons. In late February 2025, a 12-year-old female and her mother responded to the Thousand Oaks Police Station to report a possible child crime. The responding deputy spoke with the mother and juvenile and learned Larson advertised “tennis lessons for juveniles” on Craigslist and this juvenile had been receiving tennis lessons from Larson for over a year. Based on the report, it appears Larson was “grooming” the juvenile. Grooming, in reference to child abuse, is defined as a manipulative process where an individual builds trust and an emotional connection with a juvenile to exploit and/or abuse them. The investigation into this crime is ongoing. There is a possibility other people may have been victimized in a similar manner by Larson. If you are a victim or have any information regarding this investigation, you can contact Detective Nicole Adrianzen at (805) 494-8229 or by email at [email protected]. Callers can remain anonymous. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Sexual Assault Unit is committed to the safety of our community’s youth. The access afforded to young people online can be overwhelming and is opportunistic to sexual predators. Information about online safety is available from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at www.missingkids.org. Age-appropriate education presentations are available as well as multiple other educational topics related to the safety of our youth. We encourage all parents to talk to their children about the risks associated with internet predators and to report any matters to law enforcement they feel are inappropriate or criminal in nature. |
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| Prepared by: | Detective Nicole Adrianzen East County Major Crimes Sexual Assault Unit |
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| News Release Date: | May 19th, 2025 | ||||||
| Media Follow-Up Contact: | Detective Nicole Adrianzen, 805-494-8229 East County Major Crimes Sexual Assault Unit [email protected] |
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| Approved by: Booking Photo Release: |
Captain Albert Ramirez YES NO |
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Address/Location
Ventura County Sheriff's Office
800 S Victoria Ave
Ventura, CA 93003
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 805-654-9511