* Vikas Jain Arrested by Livermore Police for Alleged Child Molest

Published by Junior Staff Writer on September 17, 2010

Following the arrest of a 33-year-old man Wednesday suspected of soliciting and engaging in sexual activities with minors, Livermore police are encouraging parents to monitor their children’s computer use. Police announced Thursday the arrest of Vikas Jain, of Livermore, who allegedly posed as a teenage girl online to convince a 16-year-old boy to engage in sexual activity with him. On Aug. 24, police began investigating an alleged child molestation case where a subject who identified herself as a teenage girl named Valarie began communicating over the Internet with the 16-year-old boy. After several online exchanges, the boy agreed to meet Valarie’s adult male friend at a local park to engage in sexual activities with him, police said. Investigators said they believed Jain was posing as “Valarie” on Internet chat sites and MySpace, and may have used this tactic to solicit other children for sexual favors. Jain was taken into custody at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday for the alleged child molestation after investigators conducted a sting operation. Police are encouraging parents to monitor any and all types of Internet exchanges and encourage their children to correspond with only people that they know. If anyone has any information involving this case or believe their children had been corresponding with “Valarie,” they are asked to contact Livermore police Detective Craig Giacometti at (925) 294-7529.