Long Beach Man Sentenced for Attempted Coercion of a Minor

FRESNO, Calif. — Aldo David Alcaraz, 30, of Long Beach was sentenced Monday to 10 years and one month in prison for attempted coercion of a minor, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. The sentence imposed includes a lifetime term of supervised release, during which Alcaraz’s access to minors, computers, and the internet will be restricted.

According to court documents, Alcaraz used an iPhone, the messaging application Skout and text messages to engage in sexually explicit communications for several days with a person he believed to be 14 years old. On Jan. 23, 2021, Alcaraz traveled to Bakersfield to meet the purported minor for sexual activity. The “minor” was actually undercover law enforcement investigators. On arrival, Alcaraz was arrested and booked into the Kern County Jail.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Central California Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Kern County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gappa is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.