Alamo man charged with taking sexual interest in runaway girls

MARTINEZ — Within the span of six weeks, an Alamo man ended up with two arrest warrants — in Contra Costa and Iowa — both alleging he reached out to undercover police officers who were posing as teen girls online, court records show.

Raymond Tovar, 40, faces three felony charges in Contra Costa, alleging he attempted to meet a minor for lewd purposes during an undercover sting conducted by the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office. He is in the West Contra Costa Detention Facility with bail set at $570,000, according to jail records.

Tovar was allegedly talking to an undercover officer in Iowa, who was posing as a 14-year-old girl online, when detectives in Contra Costa asked the Iowa investigator to have his online persona introduce Tovar to a new purported girl living in the Bay Area. Tovar had reached out to the purported 14-year-old girl through an online forum for runaway teens, authorities said.

The undercover officer in Iowa told Tovar that he should reach out to another runaway girl, aged 13, who lived in Brentwood, authorities said. This time, the 13-year-old girl was really a Contra Costa sheriff’s detective. At the time he allegedly began talking to the girl, Tovar already had an active arrest warrant in Iowa for allegedly arranging to travel there and meet the purported 14-year-old.

But then, Tovar allegedly described various sexual acts he wanted to do with the 13-year-old, requested pictures of her genitals, sent her a photograph of himself and offered to get an Uber to pick her up, authorities said. Tovar — who also has a listed address in Walnut Creek — was subsequently arrested and charged in Contra Costa, court records show.

Tovar was held to answer at his preliminary hearing in late May, and is set to be arraigned on Monday, court records show.

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