A Los Angeles man was arrested Wednesday for allegedly engaging in illicit sex acts with a 14-year-old boy in 2019 in Santa Barbara County, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
A warrant had been issued for the arrest of Vicente Lopez Ceballos, 25, and he surrendered to detectives at sheriff’s headquarters near Santa Barbara, said Raquel Zick, public information officer.
Ceballos’ arrest stemmed from the investigation into Gregory Scott Ray, 54, who was arrested in April of last year on 28 felony and three misdemeanor counts alleging sexual activity with a dozen male victims.
Ray’s alleged victims ranged in age from 13 to 17 years old, with some of the offenses dating back to 2007, Zick said.
“During the course of the investigation, detectives discovered Lopez and Ray engaged in sexual acts simultaneously with a 14-year old male juvenile victim,” Zick said.
Ceballos was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of oral copulation and sodomy of a person under 16. He was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Ray remains in custody pending trial, with bail set at $500,000.
Detectives have interviewed numerous victims, but there may be others who have not been contacted, Zick said.
Anyone with information about these allegations or that may lead to the discovery of other victims is asked to contact Detective Vasquez at 805.934.6170, or call the sheriff’s anonymous tip line at 805.681.4171.
— Noozhawk staff writer Jade Martinez-Pogue can be reached at jmartinez-pogue@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.