Martinez, California – On August 1st, 2023, a Benicia man was sentenced in Contra Costa Superior Court in Martinez for several child exploitation crimes.
The Honorable Mary Ann O’Malley remanded into custody 34-year-old William Michael Gogas. He will serve one year in county jail and be required to register as a lifetime sex offender for his offenses.
After a one-week jury trial in May 2023, a Contra Costa County jury convicted Gogas of arranging to meet a minor for sex and unlawfully communicating with a minor. At the trial, evidence was presented that demonstrated — on or about December 9, 2021 — Gogas knowingly engaged in sexually explicit text messages with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old boy — but was an undercover detective with the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office.
The evidence further established Gogas arranged to meet the minor at a location in Martinez to engage in illegal sex acts. When Gogas arrived at the meeting location, he was taken into custody by members of the Contra Costa County Safe Streets Task Force and charged in a criminal complaint on December 13, 2021.
The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Chris Sansoe and investigated by the Contra Costa County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Detectives and investigators from the Walnut Creek, Concord, Pleasant Hill, Brentwood, Pittsburg, San Ramon, Danville, Oakley, and Moraga Police Departments, the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, United States Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and Inspectors from the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office participate on the task force.
Parents are encouraged to discuss online safety with their children and can visit the website kidsmartz.org, commonsensemedia.org or the District Attorney’s website for further information.
1 comment
1 yr. Is all that he got. Come on he’ll be out in 6 months and doing it again. Come down hard on these sickos.
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