Craigslist ad draws another alleged sexual predator to Surf City

HUNTINGTON BEACH – In an ongoing police sting that has played out like an episode of MSNBC’s “To Catch a Predator,” Huntington Beach police caught a fifth suspect using a decoy ad on Craigslist.

Alvin Huynh, 23, of Foothill Ranch, was arrested May 22 at about 1 a.m., according to a police report. Specific charges include lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years old, arranging a meeting location to engage in lewd acts and communicating with a minor with intent to engage in lewd acts. The suspect responded to an ad by a supposed 13-year-old girl on Craigslist.

Huynh joins four other unsavory characters that have been caught in the same sting over the past several months.

Huntington Beach detectives have reportedly come into contact with the suspects online while posing as a 13-year-old girl. Once contact has been made, the cases have all unfolded in similar fashion with the suspects making plans to meet the 13-year-old in hopes of a sexual encounter. Instead, the suspects have all arrived in Surf City only to be taken straight to jail.

Because it’s part of an ongoing investigation, police wouldn’t go into specific detail on this most recent case, but they did note that Huynh was told again and again by the fictitious 13-year-old girl that she was underage.