Man acquitted of charges filed in 2021 online child sex sting
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A Kern County jury acquitted a man of charges filed in an online child sex sting, his attorney saying the way the operation was conducted amounted to “obvious” entrapment.
Divyesh Bhakta, 48, was found not guilty Monday of two felony counts brought against him three years ago alleging he tried to meet a minor for sex.
An acquittal in a child sex sting case is relatively rare given that defendants’ statements to the person posing as a minor are preserved and presented at trial. Defendants often acknowledge they’re speaking with someone underage then continue to engage in sexually graphic conversations.
Bhakta’s attorney, Jared M. Thompson of Humphrey & Thompson, said the sheriff’s investigator in this case failed to preserve exculpatory evidence and made statements contradicted by others at trial.
“Just a lot of troubling inconsistencies and deception,” Thompson said.
The District Attorney’s Office said in an email investigative techniques used in sting operations have evolved within the past few years, providing juries with more evidence.
“Early efforts in this field faced challenges due to limited data retention policies of the service providers used by predators to contact children,” the email said. “More recent investigations better account for these issues, and better ensure that juries are provided with a clear picture of criminal conduct.”
The operations serve a vital role in protecting children, prosecutors said.
In January 2021, Bhakta began communicating with someone on Grindr whose profile, he said, indicated they were in their 20s and had a photo of an adult attached.
The other person — actually a senior deputy operating a decoy account as part of a sting operation — gave him a number so they could text.
After several hours of texting, Thompson said Tuesday in providing a summary of the case, the deputy told Bhakta they were underage.
Bhakta, confused, went back to the profile — which was active all eight days they communicated — and confirmed it was for an adult. He then asked the person he was texting whether that was their profile, and they confirmed it was, Thompson said.
Reassured he was still communicating with an adult and doing nothing illegal, Bhakta continued the conversation, the attorney said.
It wasn’t until the eighth day, at which point the deputy had made sexually graphic statements, and after much provoking of Bhakta to do the same, that Bhakta wrote a lewd remark, Thompson said.
Until that point, Bhakta only talked about meeting, and his statements indicated he was looking for adult companionship, Thompson said.
“In this case, looking at all the evidence, it was so obvious this was entrapment,” Thompson said.
He found it alarming the deputy didn’t preserve the profile used, or the photos and email address attached to it.
“We don’t really know what was on that profile because it was destroyed, the evidence was lost,” Thompson said. The deputy, he added, gave no explanation for not saving it.
The deputy testified he posed as a 13-year-old on Grindr for two months and used a “baby filter” for the photo, but a Grindr employee scoffed at those claims, Thompson said.
No underage profiles, or images of minors, are allowed on the app, the employee testified according to Thompson. That content is banned immediately, the employee said.
Bhakta burst into tears when the verdict was announced, Thompson said. He’s relieved, and wants to put this ordeal behind him.
Thompson said the jury deliberated less than an hour. Given the evidence as a whole, he said, “In my opinion, there’s no possible way you could prove Mr. Bhakta knew this person was a minor.”
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