Concord man pleads guilty to child sex trafficking

A 39-year-old Concord man pleaded guilty to child sex trafficking and related crimes last week in Contra Costa County Superior Court.

Manuel Gomez-Antonio entered the guilty plea, after an operation by the Contra Costa’s Human Trafficking and Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces found him using an online dating service to offer money to someone he believed to be a 14-year-old boy to perform a sex act in Concord Park in January 2019.

The “boy” was an undercover police officer and Gomez-Antonio was arrested by officers when he drove to the pre-arranged meeting location by the tennis courts in the park.

Judge Leslie G. Landau accepted the plea agreement and sentenced the defendant to a three-year probation supervision, terms which include a 100-yard stay-away order from Concord Park, prohibitions against using or possessing any online dating applications, and search and seizure terms that include all digital devices.

This investigation was conducted by the multi-agency Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which is managed by the San Jose Police Department.

In Contra Costa County, the task force includes detectives and investigators from the Walnut Creek, Martinez, San Ramon, Danville, Pleasant Hill, Concord and Moraga Police Departments; the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office; United States Secret Service; Homeland Security Investigations; the Contra Costa County Probation Department; and inspectors from the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office.

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