Jason Bell sentenced after Gilroy Police decoyed him with an
investigative Internet sting
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – Jason Robert Bell, the 34-year-old Gilroy man who used the Internet to pursue what he thought was a young girl, was sentenced Monday morning to three years in prison.
Bell agreed to the sentence when he pleaded no contest earlier this summer to the charges of attempted lewd acts with a child younger than 14 and attempted distribution of harmful material to a minor. He will serve a three-year sentence for the first felony charge, and a concurrent one-year sentence for the second. He also was ordered to pay nearly $1,900 in restitution and court fines. When he is released, he will be on parole for up to three years, and will be required to register as a sex offender.
Bell has been in custody since his Feb. 4 arrest near Del Rey Park, on Calle Del Rey. His hair was cropped short and he wore brown jail garb, indicating his protective custody status as a sex offender, at his sentencing hearing in Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Martin.
He was the first of three men arrested by police officers in recent months for attempting to meet a 13- or 14-year-old girl to have sex with her. The girl was actually a persona maintained by Detective Mitch Madruga.
Bell contacted the “girl” with an explicit e-mail in early January. After she responded later that month, the two began chatting. Bell asked her to meet him on Jan. 31, and described in detail the sex acts he wanted to perform. Police said he did not show up that day.
During a four-hour chat the next night, Bell again arranged to meet at a park, and then go to a rented hotel room. He also sent her a nude image of himself. He showed up to the rendezvous with the hotel room key, Malibu rum and vanilla Coke, some rope, tape, a knife, and a rag. As he stopped his pick-up at the corner where he planned to meet a 13-year-old, police officers surrounded his car and took him into custody.
Madruga said he knew there were men who surf the Internet looking for young girls to prey upon, which was why he established the fictional profile late last year.
“They’ve been out there for a long time,” he said. “Now that our sex unit has been split into a two-person team, we’ve got a little bit more time to actively go out and … go after these crimes, rather than just reacting to them.”
Two other men have been arrested recently, under similar circumstances. Bruce Randal Tebo, 45, of Rosamond was arrested at Christmas Hill Park on June 3. When police searched his Gilroy hotel room, they found sexual aids including lubricant, phallic devices, and condoms. Renato Rashidally, 26, was arrested July 27 at Del Rey Park. He thought the girl was 12 years old.
Madruga said he hopes Bell’s sentence sends a very strong message to other predators, and noted that federal law enforcement agencies are bringing even harsher charges against similar offenders.
“We may even transition into bringing in some federal assistance, too,” he said.
With a new school year underway, Madruga said the Gilroy Police Department’s Neighborhood Resources Unit and the Gilroy Unified School District will be teaming up to bring Internet safety presentations to students. Earlier this year, members of local law enforcement who deal with sex offenders met with a group of parents to discuss the sex offender registration process and reiterate the importance of monitoring children’s computer use. Similar meetings may be held in different neighborhoods of the city, Madruga said.
