Federal grand jury indicts two Northern California men accused in child sex predator sting
A federal grand jury indicted two men arrested in a Northern California undercover operation in which they’re accused of wanting to sexually abuse a 10-year-old child purportedly being trafficked for sex.
Kevin Leslie Gipson, 58, of Oroville and Kenneth Wayne Lorenz, 81, of Rio Linda were arrested this summer along with 12 others snared in the child sexual predator sting, authorities have said.
Detectives in Sacramento County are worried there might be additional, unreported victims of child sexual abuse and are asking the public to help with their investigation.
Gipson and Lorenz initially faced local charges stemming from their arrests and were arraigned in Sacramento Superior Court. The grand jury indictment filed Oct. 3 in federal court in Sacramento supersedes the county charges.
Gipson faces a federal charge of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento announced Thursday in a news release. The federal prosecutors said Gipson tried to persuade, coerce and entice a minor to engage in oral copulation and to commit lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14 years old.
Sacramento County jail records show Gipson was booked July 26 and has remained in custody since. Lorenz was returned to custody Monday morning and was booked into the downtown jail. Both men were being held without bail.
The federal indictment against Lorenz was unsealed Monday. Lorenz faces a federal charge of possessing child pornography. Lorenz is accused of possessing child sexual abuse material involving a minor younger than 12 years old, according to the filed indictment that indicates authorities collected a laptop computer and two digital drives as part of the investigation.
Internet Crimes Against Children
The three-day undercover sting, known as Operation Summer Sentinel, was led by the Yuba County Sheriff’s Office and the Yuba County District Attorney’s Office in partnership with the Sacramento Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Officers from 20 police, sheriff, state and federal agencies convened in a room in July to talk on social media apps and websites with the men who believed they were speaking with young girls, sheriff’s officials announced in early August.
A detective with the task force, which is based in Sacramento County, covertly communicated online with Gipson, who expressed interest in a meeting to engage in sexual acts with a 10-year-old child purportedly being trafficked for sex, Sacramento County sheriff’s officials announced Monday in a news release.
Sheriff’s officials said Gipson purchased sex toys, including a bondage kit, and told the undercover investigator that he intended to use the items while sexually abusing the child.
The Butte County man also told the undercover investigator that he had previously engaged in sexual acts with a 9-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Gipson, who was unknowingly speaking to an undercover investigator, reportedly said he had been convicted for the child sex abuse and served three years in a California prison and recently no longer required to register as a sex offender.
Law changed for sex offenders
California Senate Bill 384, which went into effect July 2021, changed the state’s lifetime sex offender registration requirements to a three-tier system.
The 2021 law created the three tiers that now require convicted adult sex offenders to register with authorities for 10 years, 20 years or for life after completing their prison sentences, according to the California Department of Justice. Tiers are designated based on convictions or adjudications in and outside California, along with risk assessment levels and scores and other criteria. Convicted juvenile sex offenders are required to register for five or 10 years, and they can then petition the superior or juvenile courts to have their registration requirement removed on or after their next birthday.
Sheriff’s officials said Gipson and Lorenz were both previously convicted of sex offenses and ordered to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives. But the 2021 change in California law now differentiated offenders based on the severity of their crimes and began to allow non-lifetime registrations.
Gipson was convicted in 1991 of two felony counts of committing lewd or lascivious acts with a child younger than 14, sheriff’s officials said. Gipson successfully petitioned the court to terminate his lifetime sex offender registration, which was granted in September 2023, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Lorenz was convicted in 1966 of indecent exposure, in 1984 of sexual battery and in 1997 again of indecent exposure. Sheriff’s officials said those offenses now only require a 10-year sex offender registration, and Lorenz was no longer required to register as a sex offender.
Arrest made at his work
During the sting in July, Gipson introduced the undercover investigator to his friend, Lorenz.
Sheriff’s officials said Lorenz told the undercover investigator he wanted to sexually abuse the 10-year-old child and that he and Lorenz had previously met to engage in sex acts with each other while viewing child sexual abuse material, commonly referred to as child porn.
Gipson told the undercover investigator that he and Lorenz had previously discussed finding a child to sexually abuse, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The undercover investigator arranged a meeting with Gipson and Lorenz after the men provided a graphic and detailed account of how they wanted to sexually abuse the child, sheriff’s officials said.
Gipson met at his workplace with the undercover investigator. Sheriff’s officials said Gipson had a stuffed doll as a gift for the child, and he was then taken into custody.
Investigators then served a search warrant at Lorenz’s Sacramento County home, where investigators found the sex toys Gipson purchased and wanted to use on the child, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The detectives also reportedly found digital drives and a laptop computer containing over 1,000 files of child sexual abuse material.
Sheriff’s officials said Lorenz admitted the child porn was his and that he had previously engaged in sexual contact with multiple children and had never been caught.
“While details of this incident are horrific enough, the content in the chats with detectives was even more vile,” sheriff’s officials said in the news release. “Detectives are concerned there may be additional unreported victims and are asking that any community members with children who may have interacted with these individuals to contact the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
Detectives asked anyone with information relevant to this investigation to call the Sheriff’s Office at 916-874-5115 or Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at 916-443-4357.
