San Mateo Man Arrested In Undercover Child Exploitation Sting: DA

SAN MATEO, CA — A San Mateo resident is among five Bay Area men caught trying to meet children for sex online, according to San Francisco prosecutors.

The defendants were each caught as part of an undercover sting operation, according to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.

Rueben Teauge, 50, of San Francisco; Michael Pauter, 43, of San Mateo; Romauld Santiago, 32, of Daly City; Jhonny Rodriguez Diaz, 37, of Redwood City; and Jorge Nieto, 27, of San Francisco have been charged with arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes, San Francisco prosecutors said Wednesday.

Each defendant, except Santiago, was also charged with meeting a minor for lewd purposes, prosecutors said. They've all pleaded not guilty to the charges against them, according to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.

In late July, undercover officers from the San Francisco Sheriff's Office, other local Bay Area counties and officers from Florida were running a sting, where they pretended to be children online to catch adults soliciting minors, prosecutors said.

Each defendant, according to prosecutors, began talking with the officers online, thinking they were children.

The five defendants each used graphic and sexual language during the conversations, and eventually expressed interest in meeting up, prosecutors said.

Eventually, officers would send the defendants an address where they could meet up, prosecutors said. But when they arrived, deputies took them into custody, prosecutors said.

Nieto, Pauter, Santiago and Teague remain in custody after a judge agreed with prosecutors that the defendants pose a risk to the public, authorities said.