35-Year-Old Man Arrested on Minor Exploitation Allegations Over Social Media Relationship with Minor
LOMPOC, CA — September 3rd 2026 — A 35-year-old Santa Barbara County man has been arrested in connection with an alleged sexual relationship involving a 15-year-old he reportedly met through social media.
According to Lompoc Police Department spokesman Sgt. Scott Morgan, “the contact began in July or August 2025 when the adult and juvenile started communicating online.” That contact subsequently “developed into a sexual relationship that continued until approximately March 2026.”
It was not, however, until August 2026 when officers learned of the allegations after the department “received a report involving an adult and a juvenile.”
Detectives then opened an investigation and gathered information about the pair’s online contact and subsequent relationship.
On the afternoon of September 2nd, investigators obtained an arrest warrant and served it upon 35-year-old Santa Barbara County resident Christopher Paul Rodriguez. Rodriguez was taken into custody and was transported to the Santa Barbara County Jail where he was booked on a charge of online predatory sexual behavior upon a minor.
At the time of his arrest, Rodriguez was serving a term of five years of probation in an earlier criminal case in which he was convicted of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant. Pursuant to his prior conviction, he remains in custody on a no-bail hold.
– by F. Scott Faulkner
