Six men convicted of agreeing to engage in prostitution in Santa Ana

Orange County District Attorney Press Release

For Immediate Release:  June 12, 2014

SIX MEN CONVICTED OF AGREEING TO ENGAGE IN PROSTITUTION

SANTA ANA – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) convicted six men in May 2014 of agreeing to engage in prostitution. The defendants in these cases approached a woman, whom they believed to be a prostitute, in areas known for prostitution and human trafficking in Orange County. They agreed to engage in commercial sex with a woman or an undercover officer and were subsequently arrested by law enforcement.

The Santa Ana Police Department investigated these cases. Deputy District Attorney Eric Eastman of the HEAT Unit prosecuted these cases.

The defendants below each pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of agreeing to engage in prostitution. The defendants were each sentenced up to three years informal probation, up to 45 days in jail with the possibility of CalTrans in lieu of jail, and required to submit to AIDS testing and education. Some defendants must also submit to DNA testing and were required to donate up to $250 to the Victim Witness Emergency Fund.

· Antonio de Jesus Arias, 24, Santa Ana
· Joshua Trevor Carillo, 23, Santa Ana
· Santiago Romero Dominguez, 40, Santa Ana
· Michael Alfonse Farag, 41, Santa Ana
· Miguel Reyes Flores, 30, Santa Ana
· Humberto Guebara Torres, 23, Garden Grove

These cases were prosecuted by the OCDA 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 of human exploitation and trafficking.

A press release will be sent out once a month detailing the arrests and convictions of sex purchasers.

###

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