Morgan Hill Child Predator Case Concludes with Four Men Sentenced to Prison
MORGAN HILL, CA — “The Morgan Hill Police Department (MHPD) received a Cybertip in Oct 2018 related to a suspect downloading child sexual abuse material.
Detective Woodrow identified the suspect as Jose Gutierrez and authored a search warrant for his residence in San Martin. It was during this search that Detective Woodrow first suspected Gutierrez was producing his own child sexual abuse material and distributing it online to other men.
Our team authored more than 40 search warrants, 30 supplemental reports, and identified 4 local suspects and many more outside Santa Clara County. Then Detective Woodrow explained, ‘This crime may have originated in Morgan Hill and San Martin; however, the web of suspects sharing these images reached Watsonville, Salinas, Los Angeles, Orange County, Las Vegas, Maryland and further. Each time a new suspect was identified we notified the local ICAC (internet crimes against children) task force. One such tip resulted in the arrest of an Orange County man sentenced to 40-years in federal prison for abusing 3 children. We believe this investigation led to a total of 19 arrests and 14 children rescued nationwide’.
Morgan Hill police arrested 4 local men connected to this investigation.
• Jose Gutierrez (San Martin) sentenced to 25 years to life with sex offender registration.
• Connor Rinehart (Morgan Hill) sentenced to 25 years to life with sex offender registration.
• Graham Bessermin (San Jose) sentenced to 3 years with sex offender registration.
• Ernesto Rivera (Gilroy) sentenced to 1 year with sex offender registration.
Sexual assault can affect anyone, regardless of gender identity, age, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, or religion. It can impact people of all genders and can occur in any type of relationship. Children, teens, and adults can all be affected.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, please know you are not alone. Support is available, and we are here to help.
For more information, please call Community Solutions 24-hour confidential hotline at 1.877.END.SADV (1.877.363.7238) or visit one of their offices in Gilroy, Morgan Hill, or Hollister.
Anyone with information related to this case is encouraged to contact Detective Sergeant Sean Bayard at (408) 607-3032 or via email at sean.bayard@morganhill.ca.gov.”
