Northern California Man Charged in a Complaint for Allegedly Trying to Have Sex with Multiple Minors at a Fictitious Hotel Party

LOS ANGELES - A Placer County resident made his initial appearance today after he allegedly arranged to have sex with minors at a fictitious hotel party.

Michael Batchelor, 30, of Placer County is charged in a criminal complaint with one count of attempted production of child pornography, one count of attempted enticement of a minor to engage in illegal criminal sexual activity, and one count of distribution and possession of child pornography.

Batchelor made his initial appearance today in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles and his detention hearing has been scheduled for July 22.

According to the complaint, prior to the encounter, Batchelor allegedly planned for what kind of children he would have sex with and what he would do to them. Batchelor was allegedly looking for minors who were in the age range of "6 to 14" and had "blonde" hair. Batchelor allegedly expressed interest in producing child pornography of the encounter. Batchelor also allegedly provided pictures and videos of child pornography, including children appearing to be younger than 10 years old being molested by adult men.

On July 17, Batchelor allegedly traveled to Los Angeles intending to have sex and produce child pornography with three minor girls, two of whom were under the age of 10, while he was visiting family. Batchelor had allegedly brought $200 to pay for the hotel room where the sexual activity was supposed to occur, along with a recent STD test. Shortly after arriving at a prearranged location near the site of the fictitious hotel party, Batchelor was arrested and is currently being detained by law enforcement.

"It is essential that we protect our children from predators who perpetrate the sorts of despicable crimes alleged in this complaint," said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. "We will continue to leverage our resources to ferret out efforts to sexually exploit children and hold those bad actors accountable."

"Yesterday's arrest once again sends a clear message to child predators that they are now the prey and that this abhorrent criminal activity will not be tolerated," said HSI Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang. "HSI Los Angeles and our partners will do everything in our power to protect the children of our communities."

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted of all charges, Batchelor faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Homeland Security Investigations and New Jersey State Police investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Catharine A. Richmond and Chris M. Brunwin of the Violent and Organized Crime Section are prosecuting this matter.

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