*CRIMINAL CASE UPDATE*

MORE VICTIMS FOUND, NUMEROUS ADDITIONAL COUNTS TO BE FILED AGAINST MYSPACE PREDATOR

RIVERSIDE - On Monday, Nov. 2, 2009, Joshua David Threlkeld will be arraigned on dozens of new counts related to crimes he committed involving 80 underage victims he targeted primarily through the social networking Web site MySpace.

Threlkeld, DOB: 3-19-77, of Orange was originally charged in May 2009 with nine counts involving two underage victims. Now, after a lengthy ongoing investigation, the Riverside County District Attorney's Office will be filing a second amended complaint against Threlkeld encompassing 136 counts and 80 victims.

The victims, who range in age from 11 to 17, are from six California counties (Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, San Diego, Los Angeles and Shasta) as well as 15 other states as far away as New York and Florida. The crimes date back to at least August of 2007. Currently, 39 of the 80 victims are from Riverside County, living in the areas of Moreno Valley, Hemet, Palm Springs, Corona, Winchester and Romoland.

Based on the evidence, Threlkeld almost always began his scheme by posing on MySpace as a 13-old-girl named "Sara" who stated she was a model for a photographer named "Josh" and referred the underage victims to him. Threlkeld then solicited underage girls from across the county via the Web site to send him nude photographs, which many victims did. Even in cases in which the underage girls did not send him nude photos, Threlkeld is still charged with communicating with a minor with the intent of having them send him a nude photo.

Threlkeld is also charged with kidnap for rape and aggravated sexual assault of a minor for taking a 13-year-old victim to a home belonging to one of his friends in Palm Springs reportedly for a photo shoot but instead sexually assaulting the girl.

Crimes committed by Threlkeld reportedly happened at that Palm Springs home as well as his residence in Orange and possibly another location in the Hemet/San Jacinto area.

Threlkeld is scheduled to be arraigned at 8:30 a.m. in Dept. 42 at the Hall of Justice in Riverside. He faces multiple life sentences if convicted.

The case, RIF150044, is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Rob Hightower.