Quick Take
Scotts Valley police investigators arrested a former Boys and Girls Club teen counselor during an undercover operation last week and charged him with contact of a minor with intent to commit sexual offense, human trafficking and annoying/molesting a victim under 18 years of age.
During an undercover operation last Thursday, Scotts Valley police officers arrested a former Boys and Girls Club teen counselor on charges that he attempted to have sex with a minor.
Ciriaco Johnson, 24, worked for the Joe & Linda Aliberti Clubhouse of the Boys and Girls Club in Scotts Valley between 2019 and 2023. He faces charges of contact of a minor with intent to commit sexual offense, human trafficking and annoying/molesting a victim under 18 years of age.
Online court records show he was released on bail Monday and is scheduled for arraignment at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday.
Police said, in a Facebook post, that after Johnson left his employment at the Boys and Girls Club in 2023, he continued to talk with several of the young teens he was counseling. Police claim he later offered money to some of them in exchange for sexual acts and “also offered money to the minors in exchange for images and for silence about his solicitation. At this time, there is no evidence that he succeeded in sexually assaulting any minors.”
The Scotts Valley Police Department said a parent noticed inappropriate messages on their child’s cellphone and immediately notified the agency. Officers started investigating and created an undercover chat operation with Johnson using social media.
“This resulted in Johnson’s arrest, without incident, on the evening of Thursday, August 1st, when he drove to Scotts Valley intending to sexually assault a female minor he believed he’d been chatting with,” according to police.
Following the arrest, Scotts Valley police urged parents to be vigilant and minors who have received inappropriate communication from an adult to talk to their parents or police.
The police department is asking anyone with additional information about this case to contact the Scotts Valley Police Department at 831-440-5670 or Detective Sergeant Pascale Drozek at pdrozek@scottsvalley.gov.
Lookout reached out to the Boys and Girls Club in Scotts Valley but didn’t immediately receive a response.
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.