Kenny Thompson
InstantRiverside.com

If convicted as charged,  Joshua David Threlkeld (pictured), 32, of Orange County, faces multiple-life sentences.  He was ordered to stand trial on 23 of 149 criminal counts related to crimes he allegedly committed involving 80 underage girls targeted online through MySpace.

Over the course of at least the last two and a half years, Threlkeld is alleged to have solicited underage girls to send him nude photographs.  He posed online as a thirteen year-old girl named “Sara,” who modeled for and referred girls to a photographer named “Josh,” according the district attorney.

Prosecutors allege that many victims sent nude photos. Even in cases in which the victims did not send photos, Mr. Threlkeld is still criminally charged with communicating with a minor with the intent of having them send him a nude photograph. The victims range in age from eleven to seventeen years old.

Threlkeld is also charged with kidnap for rape and aggravated sexual assault of a minor, for taking a thirteen-year-old girl to his friend’s home in Palm Springs for a “photo shoot” but instead sexually assaulting her.

Of the 80 victims, 39 are from the Riverside County cities of Moreno Valley, Hemet, Palm Springs, Corona, Romoland and Winchester. The 41 other victims are from five other California counties (San Bernardino, Orange, San Diego, Los Angeles and Shasta County) and from fifteen other states across the country.

The preliminary hearing will continue February 16th, when Judge John Malloy will determine whether there is enough evidence to go to trial on the remaining 126 criminal counts.

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Tuesday, February 9, 2010

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