California LGBTQ+ activist arrested for allegedly seeking sex with person he thought was a teenager

A child-sex sting operation in California earlier this month led to the arrest of more than a dozen men, including a noted LGBTQ+ activist who had recently been appointed executive director of a "queer" nonprofit.

Between January 5 and 6, members of several state and local agencies assisted police in Turlock, California — about 15 miles southeast of Modesto — in executing a sting operation to nab sexual deviants attempting to prey on minors. Undercover officers posed as teens ranging in age between 13 and 17 and began interacting with other users on dating apps. Various suspects eventually agreed to meet up with their dating app correspondents — whom they believed to be underage — "for the purpose of sexual activity," a press release from Turlock PD said.

"We got hits on every age," claimed Detective Gina Giovacchini, who orchestrated the sting.

In all, police arrested 17 men, most of them from Stanislaus County. One of the local suspects swept up in the sting was Gerad Slayton, a 42-year-old man who had recently been appointed to be the executive director of the Rainbow Resource Center in Modesto. On its Facebook page, which has "BIGRAINBOWFLAG" as its username, the RRC describes itself as a "Non-Profit Queer Resource Center serving Stanislaus County. Not Your Typical Pride Center!"

As with many other suspects, Slayton was charged with meeting with a minor for the purpose of sex, a felony, and booked in the Stanislaus County jail. He has pled not guilty and appears to have been assessed a bail of $250,000. He is scheduled to appear in court again on January 29.

The RRC issued a statement following Slayton's arrest, insisting that his alleged actions occurred "outside working hours and off-premises" and that organization leaders treat the allegations against him "with the utmost seriousness." "Mr. Slayton's actions do not represent our organization's values or mission," the statement added.

In an interview with the Modesto Bee, RRC interim executive director Alex Gutierrez indicated that though Slayton joined the RRC a year and a half ago, at the time of his arrest, he was not interacting with many of the people the organization ostensibly serves.

"He was new in that position and was working mostly with kind of staff roles," Gutierrez explained. "So I can’t say that he didn’t have, you know, any contact with people, with peers in general, you know, not to say zero contact, but we have definitely other layers of [contact] when you first come in, you don’t obviously meet the executive director."

When pressed, Gutierrez admitted that the RCC does work with minors, though he said most people who go to the center are between the ages of 25 and 35.

"We’re obviously ready for whatever happens, but, you know, this was a personal decision made by one of our employees, and it’s unfortunate," Gutierrez added.

"So, it is, you know, very impactful for us. We are trying to get through it."

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