Former Beverly Hills therapist tried to meet SLO girl for sex. A cop showed up instead
Editor’s note: This story contains child sex abuse.
A former Beverly Hills therapist who traveled to San Luis Obispo to have sex what he thought was a 13-year-old girl pleaded guilty to a federal child porn charge last month.
Ron Gad, 49, agreed to be sentenced to at least seven years in federal prison and register as a sex offender for at least 10 years after he entered a plea agreement on Sept. 12. He pleaded guilty to federal distribution of child sexual abuse material, court documents show.
According to the Department of Justice, Gad was a licensed marriage and family therapist in Beverly Hills. He had been accessing child sex abuse videos and images since at least 2016.
He was caught when an undercover San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s detective posed as a 13-year-old girl named “Emma” online and he drove from Beverly Hills to SLO to meet her, court documents said.
Though he has agreed to serve at least seven years in prison, he faces a maximum of 20 years, his plea agreement said.
Man messaged SLO sheriff’s detective posing as teen in chat room
According to the plea agreement, Gad admitted to enticing a 13-year-old girl — who turned out to be an undercover cop — online on Sept. 20, 2022.
The detective set up the sting by posing as a girl named Emma and entering a teen chat room on Chat Avenue, an online communication platform. There, the officer received a direct message from Gad, asking if she was interested in older men and saying he was 30 years old, court documents said.
After exchanging a few messages, Gad asked Emma to text. The detective agreed and sent a text to Gad on the number he provided.
That same day, Gad asked Emma to send photos of herself, which the detective did through a face-altering application that made her appear to be a young teenage girl. Gad then sent a photo of him sitting on a couch inside his therapy office, court documents said.
Over the course of several weeks, Gad exchanged explicit text messages with Emma, who said she lived in San Luis Obispo, court documents said.
Gad told Emma she had to be his “little secret” and that he was “craving” her, along with sharing explicit things he wanted to do to her. He also sent her photos of his penis over these weeks.
Gad also asked Emma if she had been sexual with an older man before, to which the detective said she had. The detective asked Gad if he was OK with her being so young, and Gad replied “Yup.”
On Sept. 29, 2022, a second undercover detective posed as Emma on a phone call with Gad, who said his name was Holden. The two discussed Gad traveling to San Luis Obispo to meet Emma, and Gad asked Emma if she would ditch school to be with him so he could take her to a hotel.
Immediately after hanging up the phone, Gad texted Emma that he was “dying to come get you” and asked if he could meet her at a park. He asked how old Emma was and the detective replied she was 13 turning 14 in a month, to with Gad responded “F--k. You’re hot.”
He eventually texted Emma on Oct. 6, 2022, that he planned to come up on Oct. 24.
Defendant admits to trying to evade prosecution by demanding ‘Emma’ say she is 19 instead of 14
In the weeks leading up to Oct. 24, Gad continued to ask Emma for photos and message her sexually explicit content. The undercover detective sent altered photos of herself during this time. He asked her what grade she was in, and when the detective replied “7th,” he replied, “You’re my little lover.”
Gad call Emma on Oct. 20, 2022, and discussed sexual activities and Gad’s upcoming visit. He confirmed he would meet Emma at Laguna Hills Park in San Luis Obispo’s Laguna Lake neighborhood once she was out of school.
He asked Emma if she was deleting their messages each night, and the detective said she was. Gad told Emma he loved her and couldn’t wait to see her.
The morning of Oct. 24, 2022, Gad texted Emma “false exculpatory messages” asking Emma to confirm she was actually a 19-year-old university student. The detective first denied being 19, then when Gad “demanded” she state she was 19 the detective replied “yes I am 18 daddy” and provided a birth date that made her 18 years old. Gad replied “Ok good. I wouldn’t come if you were underage.”
According to court documents, Gad admitted these messages were “false exculpatory messages designed to attempt to escape prosecution in the event he was caught.” He admitted he thought Emma was a 14-year-old girl.
Around 3 p.m., San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office detectives saw Gad driving in San Luis Obispo. He circled the park a few times, before deputies in a marked car pulled him over in a traffic stop. Gad was subsequently arrested, and deputies seized items — including a tablet — from inside the vehicle.
On the tablet, Gad possessed around 1,162 files of child sex abuse material, court documents said, with some files dating back to January 2016. The files included explicit videos of children and photos of bestiality, bondage and abuse of infants and toddlers. He also Googled several child sex abuse searches and visited known child sex abuse sites.
The tablet also showed he messaged with at least seven other minor female victims using the pseudonym “Holden.”
On Dec. 2, 2021, Gad also sent a video that depicted an 8- to 12-year-old girl performing a sex act, court documents said. That girl was identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Gad’s sentencing is scheduled for May 12.
If you or someone you know are a survivor of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673. The hotline offers a range of free services including confidential support from a trained staff member, help finding a local health facility, legal and medical advice and referrals for long-term support. Survivor support and resources are also available through Lumina Alliance at luminaalliance.org or their Crisis and Information Line at 805-545-8888.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children can be reached at the 24-hour hotline 800-843-5678. The center has resources for child exploitation survivors at missingkids.org/gethelpnow/csam-resources.
This story was originally published October 29, 2024 at 4:26 PM.
