By Raheem Hosseini
Amador County Sheriff's investigators arrested a suspected sexual predator at his Pioneer home on Monday.
Law enforcement was initially alerted by a third party, who had viewed a conversation between the suspect and his 15-year-old victim in a public MySpace chat room.
After a five-day investigation, investigators executed a search warrant at the home of Richard Phillip Davidson, 48, finding a loaded .45 caliber pistol, marijuana, photographs and undeveloped film, among other things.
The photographs, along with CDs and audio/visual equipment seized by investigators, will be examined by the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force.
Davidson was arrested and booked at the Amador County Jail, where he was charged with committing lewd acts on a 15-year-old, oral copulation of a child under the age of 16, furnishing a controlled substance and being armed in the commission of a felony. Davidson's bail was set at $100,000 by the Amador County Superior Court, which he has since posted, Undersheriff Karl Knobelauch said.
Knobelauch called the case "a classic example" of a sexual predator luring his victim through the worldwide Web. Knobelauch said MySpace isn't the only avenue used by sexual predators. The Amador County Sheriff's Office encourages parents to monitor their children's Internet activity and notify law enforcement if predator activity is suspected.
