Man arraigned after Craigslist sting arrest

A registered sex offender was charged Monday with coming to Huntington Beach to have sex with a 13-year-old girl after being caught in a Craigslist sting.

Anaheim resident David Bryan was charged with attempted lewd acts on a child, contacting a child with the intent to commit lewd acts and meeting a minor with intent to commit lewd acts. If convicted of all charges, Bryan faces a maximum sentence of five years in state prison.

Police located Bryan through a sting operation in which an undercover detective posed as a 13-year-old girl online, Lt. Russell Reinhart said. Bryan contacted the victim and attempted to solicit sex acts, he said. He also sent the victim explicit text messages and e-mails.

Detectives searched his residence afterward and found additional evidence related to the crime as well as child pornography, Reinhart said.

He is being held on $250,000 bail and is expected to begin pretrial at 9 a.m. today in Courtroom W-14 at the West Justice Center in Westminster.

Bryan is the third man in recent months caught in a Craigslist sting on suspicion of trying to have sex with a minor.

Gabriel Francis Preto, 27, of Newport Beach, was arrested Jan. 19, and Venson Villapando, 25, of Brea, was arrested Dec. 22 by the Huntington Beach police.

— Michael Miller and Britney Barnes