The Del Norte Sheriff’s Office arrested a suspected child predator Sept. 26 in an undercover sting operation.Spearheaded by Deputy Sarah Asbury, of the DNSO’s Investigations Unit, and with the assistance of an undercover decoy, the DNSO apprehended Jason Walton, 39. Del Norte County Sheriff Erik Apperson called the arrest “quite disturbing.”“As all suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, the purpose of this post is to encourage parents to have a discussion with their children about the risks involved when associating with unknown people, especially via the internet,” Apperson wrote on the DNSO Facebook page.#placement_573654_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid573654 = window.pid573654 || rnd;var plc573654 = window.plc573654 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=573654;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid573654+';place='+(plc573654++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');According to the DNSO, Walton began conversing over the web-based app MeetMe with an individual who claimed to be a 14-year-old female. At the time of his arrest, Walton had no criminal history, according to the DNSO.“He was less than honest about where he lived and his age,” Apperson said. “He encouraged the decoy to leave ‘her’ house once her mother left for work. He specified a particular beach location to perform sexual acts at a scheduled time. He also brought specific items, that we would rather not mention, to utilize and give to the decoy.”Instead of the decoy though, the suspect met several DNSO deputies, including Asbury. Walton was arrested without incident, evidence was collected and the case has been forwarded to the District Attorney for review. Walton is being held at Del Norte County Jail on three charges:Harmful matter sent with intent of seduction of a minor;Contact with a minor with intent to commit a sex crime;And arrange meeting with a minor for sexual purpose.Walton is being held on $100,000 bail.“We understand that putting out information like this could potentially alert other predators in our area, but we believe that in these particular circumstances, prevention outweighs the need to wait and catch people in the act,” Apperson wrote. “We must take an active role in the decisions our children make. We must be present, attentive and even invasive when it comes to how they communicate with strangers. We would prefer to prevent things like this from happening all together. Sadly, there will always be an abundance of people waiting to victimize others, even when their potential victims are our children.”Apperson said the DNSO will continue to pursue these predators and utilize every resource they have to do so. Apperson asks anyone who has a positive influence over the children in the community to please have a difficult conversation with them and to check in on what they are doing and who they are doing it with.Apperson emphasized that Del Norte County is not immune to the scary reality of child predators, adding that predators are also not stupid. Because they use technology and advanced forms of manipulation to prey on youth, the community must simultaneously focus on prevention as well as apprehension/prosecution, Apperson stressed.“This is what we are here to do. Investigations like this are some of the most challenging and rewarding to conduct. So often struggling adults were once tormented children. It's a terrible cycle that needs to be broken,” Apperson said. “We need to serve our children the best we can so that they have every possible chance to be healthy and successful. Deputy Asbury and everyone else that contributed to this investigation deserve to be appreciated and acknowledged, not just by me, but by everyone that cares about the safety and well being of children.” googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });