Suspect to Be Charged in Internet Sex Case

An Oak View man who allegedly paid $350 to an undercover Ventura County sheriff’s deputy to have sex with a fictitious 13-year-old girl is scheduled to be charged today with a single count of attempted child molestation.

In what authorities say may be the first arrest of its kind in the county, David P. Hensley came to the attention of deputies over the Internet three months ago. The 37-year-old married man was taken into custody Wednesday after paying the officer money during a meeting at a Camarillo restaurant.

“People should be aware that we’re surfing the net for these types of individuals,” police Capt. Dennis Carpenter said. “We’re sending people to schools and we’re getting the appropriate equipment--computers and such. There’s an increase in this type of activity.”

Hensley, an inventory control clerk at a Newbury Park publishing company, had conversations with deputies on bulletin boards and in chat rooms.

Deputies executed search warrants at Hensley’s home and workplace immediately after his arrest and recovered evidence, which Carpenter declined to identify. Hensley is to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. in Ventura County Municipal Court. He was being held in County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.