TEMECULA, CA — Three separate investigations into sex predators who target children online resulted in arrests, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has announced.

The most recent case involved a 44-year-old Sacramento man who drove to Murrieta to have sex with what he believed was a 14-year-old girl but were actually undercover law enforcement officers.

According to the sheriff’s department, deputies with the Southwest Sheriff’s Station Investigations Bureau were working on a month-long investigation into online predators.

The work wrapped up Aug. 30 when Laith Fathi Sikta drove from Northern California to Murrieta to meet the “girl” for sex. He planned to pick up the minor in the middle of the night, the sheriff’s department reported.

Instead, Sikta, who had cannabis with him, was met by deputies, according to the agency.

Sikta was arrested and booked into county jail on suspicion of contacting a minor with the intent to have sex, sending harmful matter through electronic means to a minor, and offering to furnish cannabis to a minor, the department said.

Jail records show Sikta remains behind bars at Southwest Detention Center in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Another man, Andrey Raymundo Tovar Serrato, 31, of La Puente was arrested Aug. 27 in his city of residence following a report of a sexual assault on a minor in Temecula.

That investigation began around 11:55 p.m. Aug 12 when deputies got a call about a juvenile sexual assault victim who was being treated at a local hospital. The victim told deputies she was sexually assaulted in the 40000 block of Winchester Road.

“It was discovered [the] suspect initially contacted the victim through an online platform and later formed a relationship for sexual purposes,” according to the sheriff’s department.

After deputies tracked him down, Serrato was booked into county jail on suspicion of multiple sex crimes and furnishing cannabis to a minor, the department said.

Jail records were unavailable for Serrato.

Finally, on Aug. 7, deputies from the Perris Sheriff’s Station Special Enforcement Team began an online undercover operation in which they posed as a 13-year-old girl.

During that investigation, 63-year-old Yucaipa resident Guy Vincent Schneider allegedly responded.

“Over the next few days, deputies continued to communicate with Schneider, who ultimately said he wanted to meet in order to perform sex acts with the underaged female,” the sheriff’s department said.

On Aug. 30, “the girl” arranged to meet Schneider. He, too, was met by deputies who found him in possession of two firearms, according to the sheriff’s department.

Schneider was arrested and booked into county jail on suspicion of contacting a minor for sex, arranging to meet with a minor with the intent for sexual acts, and attempted lewd acts with a minor.

He was released from custody Sept. 1 on $1 million bail, according to jail records.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department previously released the wrong booking photo for Andrey Raymundo Tovar Serrato. The article was updated to include the correct image.

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Television news helicopters captured the action as Department of Homeland Security agents served a search warrant in what officials described as an investigation into alleged sex trafficking — claims the music legend denies.

Homeland Security investigators yelled for those inside the star’s Holmby Hills mansion to come out with their hands in the air. Combs’ adult sons later told their father they had lasers pointed at them as they emerged from the home, sources told The Times. Combs himself was in Florida at the time.

But much remains unknown about the case and how close authorities are to determining whether to file criminal charges.

Here is a rundown of what we know and what we don’t:

What do we know about the searches?

Sources with knowledge of the operation who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss it publicly said it appears investigators searching Combs’ Holmby Hills home emptied safes, dismantled electronics and left papers strewn in some rooms. Federal agents disabled his security system and seized the hard drive, a sources told The Times.

That tracks with what some legal experts expected investigators would seek if trying to build a sex-trafficking case against the hip-hop mogul.

Dmitry Gorin, a former L.A. County sex crimes prosecutor who is now in private law practice, said investigators would likely seek authorization to “search for videos or photographs on any devices connected to the target … anywhere where digital images can be found in connection to sexual conduct that would have been recorded.”

It is unclear what was recovered in the bicoastal searches.

Federal authorities spent several hours at both homes. Sources said Combs was in Miami at the time but was not at his Florida home when the raid occurred.

No one has been arrested in connection with the investigation, although two of Combs’ sons were briefly detained on the Holmby Hills property, and Brendan Paul, a man described in a recent lawsuit against Combs as a confidant and drug “mule,” was arrested at a Miami airport at the same time the raids were being conducted. Miami-Dade police took Paul, 25, into custody on suspicion of possession of cocaine and marijuana-laced candy, records show.

Where does the case stand?

Sources told The Times that Combs is the subject of a sweeping inquiry into sex-trafficking allegations and sexual assault.

The investigation comes after four women filed civil lawsuits accusing Combs of rape, assault and other abuses, dating back three decades. One of the allegations involved a minor.

A source familiar with Homeland Security’s criminal inquiry said investigators have interviewed some of the people tied to the sex-trafficking allegations in the lawsuits against Combs.

“They have [in the Combs case] convinced one or more federal magistrates they had enough probable cause for one or more search warrants,” said Meghan Blanco, a defense attorney who has handled sex-trafficking cases. “Given the scope of the investigation, it seems they are further along than most investigations.”

Gorin said the allegations involving a minor could be a key focus in the inquiry.

If a minor is moved across state lines for the purpose of sex, “that is enough for at least an argument … of sex trafficking because somebody underage cannot consent,” Gorin said.

“Sex trafficking for adults usually involves some sort of coercion or other restraints,” he said, and can be tougher to prove. Prosecutors would need to show you “encouraged somebody to engage in sexual activity for money or some other inducement.”

What is Diddy’s camp saying?

Aaron Dyer, one of Combs’ lawyers, on Tuesday called the raids a “witch hunt” and criticized how they were conducted.

“Yesterday, there was a gross overuse of military-level force as search warrants were executed at Mr. Combs’ residences,” Dyer said in a statement. “This unprecedented ambush — paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence — leads to a premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits. There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations.”

Sources in Combs’ camp who requested anonymity say the star remains in the U.S. and authorities have not taken his passport. They said Combs had been scheduled to depart by plane Monday for a spring break vacation with his school-age daughters, but opted to delay the trip after learning of the searches.

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Harry Arlington Durette was captured in Rosarito following an investigation by Riverside County District Attorney’s Office personnel and the U.S. Marshals’ Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force.

Durette is charged with 65 felony offenses, most of them alleging forcible lewd acts on a child under 14 years old.

No hearings have been set yet in the case since his extradition.

According to a D.A.’s office statement, agency Investigator Mike Riley developed leads that the defendant was holed up in Rosarito and coordinated with the U.S. Marshals and Mexican authorities to nab him on Tuesday. Durette was immediately returned to the United States and booked into the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta, where he’s being held on $1 million bail.

Prosecutors said Durette was first arrested and charged in August 2020 following a sheriff’s investigation that revealed multiple alleged acts of molestation involving an underage girl.

The D.A.’s office said the defendant posted a $55,000 bond, and while free, investigators procured additional information indicating that he had allegedly sexually assaulted two other girls.

“Durette failed to appear on the date of his preliminary hearing in October 2021,” according to an agency statement. “A bench warrant was issued and held until Nov. 17, 2021, when he again failed to appear in court. On that date, a $1 million warrant was issued by a judge.”

It was unclear whether Durette allegedly made prior arrangements to flee to Rosarito, or did so on impulse after the amended criminal complaint was filed based on the two additional victims.

He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

Jesús Reyes | Contributed

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