According to a press release issued by the Bakersfield Police Department, an individual has been placed in Kern County Jail following a police response to a report of suspicious circumstances involving a teenager and an adult male in a vehicle at University Park in Northeast Bakersfield.
Police responded to the scene around 11:00 pm on June 26 and discovered 21-year-old Daniel Diaz in the vehicle with the teenager.
Through their investigation, it was determined that Diaz had met the teenager through the online video game platform Roblox.
The press release states that the teenager began meeting Diaz in person in April 2023 and became a victim of sexual abuse.
Further investigation led the Bakersfield Police Department to search Diaz’s residence, where they discovered evidence suggesting that Diaz had engaged in similar contact with other children and teenagers on Roblox.
Diaz was subsequently arrested and booked into Kern County Jail. The charges against him, as stated in the BPD press release, include contacting a minor with the intention of committing a felony offense, meeting a minor for lewd purposes, sending explicit material to lure a minor, transporting a minor under 16 for sexual acts, and statutory rape.
The police investigation is ongoing, and individuals with any additional information are urged to contact the Bakersfield Police Department at 327-7111.
