An undercover operation carried out on Friday resulted in the arrest of a sex offender after he allegedly contacted an officer who was posing as a teenage girl on Facebook Messenger and arranged a meeting, according to the Fountain Valley Police Department.
The suspect was identified as Troy Shellenbaum, 32, of Anaheim. He is a sex registrant for rape by force or fear, and is currently on parole, according to a police news release.
Shellenbaum used the messaging service to contact an undercover officer, who he believed was a 15-year-old girl, and initiated a sexual conversation, the Police Department stated.
The parolee then arranged to meet the officer at a park in Fountain Valley “for the purpose of going to her home for a sexual encounter,” the statement read. He was arrested after arriving at the park and making contact with the undercover officer, authorities said.
Shellenbaum was subsequently booked into the Orange County Jail on suspicion of contacting a minor with intent to commit a felony and a parole violation, officials said.