A 46-year-old Riverside County man ambushed by vigilante teens after he allegedly provided a girl with nude photos of himself and tried to arrange a sexual encounter with her is, so far, not facing charges.
Prosecutors with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office said they would not be filing charges against William Vandenbush, a resident of Homeland, and sent the case back to the sheriff’s department for further investigation.
The Nov. 15 incident, according to a news release from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, unfolded around 4:30 p.m. at Nicolas Road Park in Temecula.
Authorities told KTLA’s Shelby Nelson that deputies were tipped off that the suspect was allegedly meeting a minor at the park for “sexual purposes.”
“When deputies arrived at that scene, there were probably 20 other juveniles there,” RCSD Sgt. Diedre Vickers told KTLA.
While many of the teens had their cellphones out and recorded the encounter, deputies detained the 46-year-old and waited for detectives to respond to the park.
“The investigation revealed that Vandenbush sent nude photographs and agreed to meet a minor for sexual purposes,” the release detailed.
Vandenbush was arrested at that time and booked at the Cois Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta for sending harmful matter to a minor, contacting a minor for sexual purposes and arranging to meet with a minor for sexual purposes.
It is unclear if the 46-year-old has since been released or is still in custody.