OAKLAND, Calif. - The San Mateo Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, as part of an undercover investigation, arrested a registered sex offender who engaged in explicit conversations with a minor.
Detectives in April of this year conducted an undercover chat investigation in partnership with the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The investigation involved officers posing online as minors to identify and apprehend child predators.
During the course of the investigation, 36-year-old Christopher G. Purtill of Ukiah engaged in explicit conversations with an officer in San Mateo County who was posing as a 13-year-old boy.
Previous conviction
The backstory:
Purtill is a convicted felon, a registered sex offender and is currently on parole for a previous conviction for committing lewd or lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14.
The sheriff’s office partnered with the Ukiah Police Department and the California Department of Corrections to contact Purtill on May 7 near his home in Ukiah. He was arrested for violating the conditions of his parole and booked into the Mendocino County Jail.
After Purtill was taken into custody, investigators sought and obtained a warrant to arrest Purtill for engaging in explicit conversation with someone he believed to be a child.
Purtill is being held in Mendocino County and will be transported to San Mateo County at a later date.
The Source: San Mateo County Sheriff's Office