BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ
Daily Post Staff Reporter
The three men who traveled to Menlo Park to meet up with a 13-year-old, who was really a police officer, were charged today by the District Attorney’s Office, a prosecutor said.
Police conducted a sting operation where an officer posed as a 13-year-old girl on WhatsApp and Badoo, a dating website, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. The officer spoke to three men, who, despite learning they were texting a minor, continued to text back, Wagstaffe said.
Yony Sifredo Trochez-Martinez, 33, of San Jose, Jefferson Aldair Martinez Hernadez, 29, of Oakland and Arunkumar Kizhakkedath Unnikrishnan, 45, of Mountain View, all asked to meet up and sent explicit videos and photos of themselves, Wagstaffe said. Some messages included descriptions of how the men planned to interact with the girl, according to the DA. The officer arranged to meet up with the men on Gilbert Street and arrested them on Wednesday.
Trochez-Martinez and Unnikrishnan pleaded innocent and will be in court on Oct. 9 for a preliminary hearing, Wagstaffe said. Hernadez will enter a plea tomorrow, Wagstaffe said.
All were arrested for attempted lewd acts with a child under 14 years old, contacting a minor with lewd intent and arranging to meet a minor for lewd purposes.
All three men are booked into the jail in Redwood City and in lieu of $10,000.