El Dorado sheriff’s detectives arrest man accused of stealing underwear, possessing child porn
El Dorado County sheriff’s detectives on Tuesday were seeking any potential victims after they arrested a man accused of possessing child sexual abuse material and breaking into apartments to steal underwear.
Darren Raymond Gunter, 22, remained in custody Tuesday afternoon at the El Dorado County Jail, where he was being held without bail, jail records show.
The El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office filed a criminal complaint with eight felony charges against Gunter.
Prosecutors charged him with two counts of burglary, one count of contacting a minor with unlawful intent, three counts of possessing child pornography and two counts of distributing obscene material involving minors, according to El Dorado Superior Court records.
The burglary charges filed against Gunter include special allegations of failing to register with authorities as a sex offender.
Gunter appeared in court on Monday for his arraignment hearing, court records show. He is scheduled to return to court May 13 for further proceedings in his criminal case.
In December, the El Dorado County High Tech Crimes Unit began investigating Gunter. The detectives had received cyber tips from the federal Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force alleging possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material, commonly referred to as child pornogrpahy, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday afternoon in a Facebook post.
As the investigation into Gunter continued, sheriff’s property crimes detectives received reports of a suspect breaking into apartments at the Cameron Oaks apartment complex at 2640 Cambridge Road in Cameron Park. Sheriff’s officials said the suspect’s description matched Gunter.
The items reported stolen in the apartment burglaries were 15 to 20 pairs of underwear, along with a bed sheet and a backpack belonging to a child, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Witnesses also reported seeing Gunter peering through bedroom windows at night and recording children on video around the Cameron Park apartment complex, sheriff’s officials said.
Detectives reviewed security camera video and identified Gunter as the burglary suspect, and they also identified him as the suspect in the child sexual abuse material case, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
On Friday, detectives served a search warrant at Gunter’s home. Jail records show Gunter was arrested that same day at the apartment complex, where the burglaries had occurred.
Detectives seized several electronics and other items from Gunter’s home. Sheriff’s officials said a “cursory search of his electronics” found numerous child sexual abuse images and videos of children believed to be much younger than 12 years old, along with evidence of online chats with minors.
“The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are expected,” sheriff’s officials wrote in the Facebook post.
Investigators asked anyone with relevant information for this case or who believe they were a victim to call Detective Aaron Cuddeback of the High Tech Crimes Unit at 530-642-4724 or Detective Lyndell Scarr of the Property Crimes Unit at 530-642-4729. They also can send an email to hightech@edso.org.
