UPDATED: Charges Filed Against Man Suspected in Sexually Motivated Messages with Teen

INDIO (CNS) – A 40-year-old man suspected of sending sexually motivated messages to someone he believed was a 14-year-old boy in Palm Desert pleaded not guilty to felony charges Friday.

Brandon Devon Bourgeois of Hemet was charged with one felony count each of contacting a minor with intent to commit a crime and possessing matter depicting a minor in a sexual act, according to court records.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges Friday afternoon at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.

Bourgeois was arrested after a YouTube influencer group made a call for service around 4 p.m. Tuesday in the 72300 block of Highway 111, according to Sgt. Josh Button of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

"The group called dispatch to notify the department they would be confronting a man who worked in the area regarding sexually motivated communications he was having with a person he believed to be a 14-year-old boy," Button said in a statement. "The group live-streamed the confrontation on YouTube."

The group was then taken to the Palm Desert sheriff’s station, where they provided deputies with communications between their guise of the boy and, allegedly, Bourgeois, according to Button.

Bourgeois was subsequently booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio, where he remains held on $55,000, according to court records.

Anyone with more information on Bourgeois was asked to call Investigator Jose Munoz of the Palm Desert sheriff’s station at 760-836-1600.

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