Suspect Takes Sunnyvale Minor To Hotel, Arrested In Texas

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – A 27-year-old Texas man was arrested and extradited to Santa Clara County last week after investigators learned he allegedly engaged in an illegal, online relationship with a local minor and then flew to town to meet her in person, taking her to a Mountain View hotel in December, authorities said.

In July 2017, Gabriel Gonzalez, purportedly while posing as a 17-year-old, began corresponding online with the 16-year-old girl and, over the following five months, exchanged inappropriate pictures and videos with her, the Mountain View Police Department said.

Police said Gonzalez flew to San Jose on Dec. 28, met with the teen and took her to a hotel before flying back to Texas on New Year’s Eve.

The parents of the Sunnyvale victim learned of the relationship and called the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, police said.

As the alleged hotel encounter took place in Mountain View, MVPD took over the case. With assistance from
the Sunnyvale police, the Internet Crimes Again Children Task Force and the FBI, investigators determined Gonzalez was in suspected violation of state and federal laws, including alleged distribution of illicit material, production of child pornography and sexual intercourse with a minor, the department said.

Mountain View officers last week flew to Texas, and with the help of the Irving Police Department and the Texas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, located and arrested Gonzalez. He was extradited to California and booked into the Santa Clara County Jail, police said.

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--Image via MVPD