Brian Pardue was charged with one felony count of attempting to contact a minor with intent to commit sexual offense and one misdemeanor count of arranging a meeting with a person believed to be a minor with intent to commit a sexual offense.
According to court documents, an undercover detective with the Kern County Sheriff's Office Special Victims Unit posed as a year-old girl on a dating app when Pardue reached out, posing as a married woman.
Court documents outlined how Pardue, posing as a woman, discussed sexual acts with the minor over the app. Pardue asked how old the girl was and the undercover officer responded 16, according to the documents, but Pardue told detectives he was not sure the girl was underage since in the profile she claimed to be 18 and "people lie all the time. In the conversation outlined within the documents, after the undercover officer stated they were 16, Pardue continued to engage the minor in sexual conversation.
Posing as a woman still, Pardue asked if the minor would be interested in a sexual relationship with her husband "Brian. Following his arrest, Pardue told officers he did not believe he was speaking to a minor, even after the undercover officer claimed to be He also claimed he had no intention of ever meeting the decoy, according to documents. However, in the documented conversation, Pardue's female profile sent messages asking the decoy to meet "Brian.
Pardue told officers he had used these dating apps and websites to meet people before, according to the documents. He claimed he was just chatting and had even used the sites to look for other men who "wanted to join his girlfriend," the documents said.
