Man arrested after online contact with Orland girl

A Chico man was arrested Wednesday after he was allegedly caught in a sting trying to arrange meetings with a 12-year-old Orland girl he met online.

Maciej Wieslaw Lata, 24, was arrested around 1 p.m. Wednesday at Lely Aquatic Park in Orland. Police were contacted in April by the girl’s parents after Lata made “inappropriate” advances through her MySpace page, police Chief Bob Pasero said.

Pasero said the online conversations continued between Lata and the person he believed was the 12-year-old. “However, Lata has been conversing for more than a month with Orland police Officer Sean Johnson,” he said.

Lata attempted twice to meet the girl. At the first meeting May 16 in Aquatic Park, Pasero said, Lata struck up a conversation with an undercover officer assigned to wait for him. He asked the officer if anyone had seen the 12-year-old, Pasero said.

After realizing the girl wasn’t going to show, Lata drove back to his Chico home – followed by undercover police.

Pasero said the two meetings were arranged because police needed to learn his address. “It also helps show intent,” he said.

On Wednesday, police served a search warrant at Lata’s Chico home at the same time he was being arrested in Orland. Four computers were seized and will be analyzed by the district attorney’s computer forensic expert.

Pasero called the case “a classic example” of responsible parenting.

“They monitored her (MySpace) page constantly and contacted us as soon as they saw something inappropriate,” Pasero said.

He said it was the first ever online sting operation conducted by city authorities.

Lata was booked into the Glenn County Jail on suspicion of communicating with a minor with intent to commit lewd or lascivious acts. He posted a $10,000 bail bond just after 11 p.m. the same day, a jail spokeswoman confirmed.

He is set to appear July 14 in Glenn County Superior Court.

Contact Rob Parsons at 934-6800 or rparsons@tcnpress.com.