Man sentenced for striking a deal with a prostitute in Santa Ana

Orange County District Attorney Press Release

For Immediate Release, Case # 13CM05594: August 5, 2013

MAN SENTENCED FOR AGREEING TO ENGAGE IN PROSTITUTION IN KNOWN HUMAN TRAFFICKING AREA

SANTA ANA – A man was convicted and sentenced today for agreeing to pay for sex acts after approaching a prostitute in Santa Ana. David Valente Salmeron, 44, Santa Ana, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of agreeing to engage in prostitution and one misdemeanor count of driving without a valid driver’s license. He was sentenced to three years of informal probation, 20 days in jail with the possibility of CalTrans in lieu of jail, and AIDS testing and education.

At approximately 4:10 a.m. on June 14, 2013, Salmeron was driving on Camille Street in Santa Ana and approached a woman, whom he believed to be a prostitute, in his vehicle. The defendant and the woman spoke briefly and Salmeron agreed to pay $50 to the woman in exchange for sex acts. The woman got into the vehicle and the defendant began to drive away.

Undercover Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) officers observed the interaction between Salmeron and the woman and initiated a traffic stop. The defendant was cited and released at the scene.

The area of Camille Street is known to law enforcement to be a high-prostitution area and is known to frequently be used by individuals who sexually exploit and traffic women and underage girls for financial gain, including pimps, panderers, and human traffickers.

This case was prosecuted by the Orange County District Attorney’s Human Exploitation And Trafficking (HEAT) Unit, which targets perpetrators who sexually exploit and traffic women and underage girls for financial gain, including pimps, panderers, and human traffickers. Commercial sex trafficking is the second most lucrative criminal enterprise behind narcotics trafficking. Often the perpetrators are gang members and/or career criminals.

The HEAT Unit also targets defendants who create a demand for prostitution by soliciting and purchasing sex, which increases the commercial sexual exploitation of women and children. The HEAT Unit uses a tactical plan called PERP: Prosecution of human trafficking perpetrators and sex purchasers; Education for law enforcement to properly handle human trafficking and pandering cases; Resources to raise public awareness and provide assistance to the victims; and Publicity to inform the community about the problem and notify human traffickers and sex purchasers that this crime cannot be perpetrated without suffering severe consequences.

The OCDA announced in April 2013 that he will publicize the names of defendants convicted of sexually exploiting women or children by soliciting sex acts as part of the campaign to reduce the demand for human exploitation and trafficking.

This case was investigated by SAPD and Deputy District Attorney Michael Bardeen of the HEAT Unit is prosecuting this case.

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Tony Rackauckas, District Attorney
401 Civic Center Drive West
Santa Ana, CA 92701

Contacts:

Susan Kang Schroeder
Chief of Staff
Office: 714-347-8408
Cell: 714-292-2718

Farrah Emami
Spokesperson
Office: 714-347-8405
Cell: 714-323-4486