Sher Randhawa, Roneel Singh, Sarbjit Shergill, Simran Singh and Vishal Singh were the five from the local Indo-American community to be busted in the two-week operation involving investigation and arrests of suspects who were attempting to contact minors for sexual purposes, according to police. Lathrop police said the arrests were a record for their department.

By DESIBUZZCanada Staff With News Files

LATHROP, Calif. — Lathrop, California police arrested 18 men, five of which are Indo-American, during a sting operation they likened to the television show “To Catch a Predator,” where law enforcement catches sex predators preying on youngsters under the legal consent age in the US

Sher Randhawa, Roneel Singh, Sarbjit Shergill, Simran Singh and Vishal Singh were the five from the local Indo-American community to be busted in the two-week operation involving investigation and arrests of suspects who were attempting to contact minors for sexual purposes, according to police.

Lathrop police said the arrests were a record for their department.

All 18 men were booked into jail and face charges such as contacting a minor with intent to commit felonies and lewd or lascivious acts with a child, according to police.

“Please keep a close eye on your children’s online interactions and teach them the danger of talking to strangers on the internet. We know these predators are out there. The numbers prove it,” the police department wrote in Friday’s release.

 Police say the charges include contacting a minor for sexual purposes, contacting a minor with intent to commit felonies, and lewd or lascivious acts with a child. All 19 suspects were booked into jail.

In a Facebook post, the police department reminded parents to monitor their children’s online interactions and speak to them about the potential dangers of talking to strangers online.

The following is the list of who was arrested during the two-week sting:

  1. Darrellun Patterson 10/16/85
  2. Sher Randhawa 04/21/85
  3. Juan Estrada-Garcia 10/19/77
  4. Hermenegildo Beltran-Meza 1/25/73
  5. Robert Pena Jr. 3/30/52
  6. Daniel Snow 4/28/48
  7. Ryan Wigley 9/1/87
  8. Roneel Singh 9/26/80
  9. Gordon Bryan 9/18/74 – *Arrested on a warrant only during the operation, not a predator arrest.*
  10. Joseph Cascio 10/4/63
  11. Sarbjit Shergill 8/31/74
  12. Houth Hour 8/1/80
  13. Mario Francisco Martinez, 4/10/79
  14. Ronald Wayne Kees 2/21/54
  15. Mark Anthony Provencio Jr. 7/23/83
  16. Simran Singh 12/25/85
  17. Luis Guzman 01/05/91
  18. Vishal Singh 01/29/81
  19. Celestino Rodriguez 11/08/1988