On May 14, 2015 the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office began investigating 44year old Michael Valles for allegations he engaged in luring of a minor child for sexual exploitation and sexual conduct with a minor in 2014. The investigation originated with the recent discovery of messages on the electronic device of a (now) 15 year old minor female, which showed that she had been exchanging sexually explicit text messages with Valles.
Pinal County Sheriff’s detectives developed information that Valles had sexual relations with the victim in 2014, when she was 14 years old. The locations of the crimes were identified to have occurred in Pinal and Maricopa counties.
In 2011, Valles was investigated for sex crimes against a minor. The 2011 case was reported in Pinal County, however, detectives learned the crime happened in Maricopa County so the case was turned over to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and (formally) Child Protective Services for investigation.
Pinal County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) forwarded the 2015 case to the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the case was assigned to a PCSO detective serving on the task force.
Detectives discovered that at the time the allegations came forward in 2011, Valles was employed as a sworn deputy for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. Upon reviewing the 2011 files from Child Protective Services and MCSO, detectives discovered that Valles left employment with MCSO in 2011 and no criminal charges were filed against him in relation to the sex crimes alleged by the minor victim in 2011.
The ICAC detective quickly learned that Valles still had access to the 2011 victim. Based upon the information obtained from the existing 2011 reports, detectives believed that charges were appropriate for Sexual Conduct with a Minor. In addition, charges were appropriate for the 2014 incidents involving the second victim when she was 14 years old.
On June 11, detectives served a search warrant at Valles’ residence in Queen Creek. Michael Valles was arrested at this time. Once in custody, Valles refused to speak to detectives about the case. Valles was transported to the Maricopa County Jail and booked on one count of Sexual Conduct with a Minor, a Dangerous Crime Against a Child, for the incident which occurred in 2008 (reported in 2011).
He was also booked on one count of Sexual Conduct with a Minor, for the sexual act with the 14 year old victim in 2014 at his Queen Creek residence. He was also booked on one count of Luring a Minor for Sexual Exploitation, a Dangerous Crime Against a Child, for the sexual conversations conducted with the victim prior to her 15th birthday in 2014.
The current case investigation continues and further charges are expected to be filed in Pinal County at a later date.
Sheriff Paul Babeu said, “This case is disturbing on many different levels. We uncovered a predator that had never been arrested for incidents that took place years ago and it appears that he found another child to victimize in 2014.” He went on to say, “I’m glad we were able to arrest this suspect and finally have him answer for crimes he’s accused of committing years ago. Many child victims remain silent when sexually abused and sadly do not receive help needed to deal with this trauma. This also means there may be additional unknown victims and we ask that parents whose children may have come in contact with this predator to speak with their children and come forward to help our investigation and seek help. In the mean time, our detectives are working closely with the Pinal County Attorney’s Office to complete our investigation and file the appropriate felony charges as quickly as possible.”
The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office has long‐standing participation in the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (AZICAC). AZICAC is a multi‐agency unit, consisting of investigators from Phoenix Police,
Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, and more than 50 other affiliate agencies state wide. Their primary task is the investigation of crimes against children online, including the Luring, Sexual Abuse and Sexual Exploitation of Minors online. Anyone who may have information concerning these crimes is encouraged to call the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force at 623‐466‐1828 or Silent Witness at 480‐WITNESS or 480‐TESTIGO for Spanish.