Senior RivCo DA Investigator Arrested In Prostitution Sting

LAKE ELSINORE, CA — Around lunchtime, “advertisements” for prostitution had been posted, so-called “johns” had responded, and the decoys — undercover cops — were in their places.

The men who showed up one by one in Lake Elsinore prepared to pay for sex were greeted with something else entirely: a handcuffed ride to jail. The prostitution dragnet set up by Riverside County authorities landed 61 “johns,” including one of their own, officials said.

Bryan Gaboury, 45, a senior investigator with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, was arrested Jan. 26 on Casino Drive, a freeway frontage road lined with strip malls, fast-food eateries, a tattoo shop and a two-star motel.

Gaboury’s arrest was part of Operation Reclaim and Rebuild — a four-day sting that “targeted online prostitution and those whose demand for these unlawful activities fuels an illicit underground economy,” the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said.

The sheriff’s department teamed with the Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force and local police departments to place decoy advertisements on websites "commonly used for the solicitation of prostitution.” Officers responded to prospective clients and brokered deals for sex between Jan. 25-28 in Lake Elsinore, La Quinta, Murrieta, Riverside, Palm Desert and Temecula.

Gaboury’s name unassumingly appears alongside a list of 60 other people the sheriff’s department arrested on suspicion of soliciting prostitution.

Though the sheriff’s department did not release detailed information about those arrested, Patch confirmed through multiple sources that Gaboury, who lives in Chino, has worked for the Riverside County prosecutor's office since August 2019.

Gaboury has been placed on leave, officials said. It was not immediately clear if the leave is paid or unpaid.

“Investigator Gaboury has been placed on administrative leave per Department policy pending an investigation,” district attorney spokesman John Hall said in an emailed statement to Patch.

The district attorney’s office declined additional comment, and did not confirm if Gaboury was on duty at 11:40 a.m. on that Tuesday.

Prior to working for Riverside County, public records show that from 2011 to 2019, Gaboury worked for the West Covina Police Department, where he was promoted to corporal in 2016.

Gaboury made headlines in 2017, when he and four others filed a federal lawsuit alleging they were due unpaid overtime. The case settled for $34,000 in March 2019, five months before he joined the Riverside County prosecutor's office, records show.

After his arrest last week, Gaboury was released after posting $2,500 bail. He’s set to appear in court April 13, court records show.

Patch attempted to reach Gaboury by telephone, but our calls were not immediately returned.

Gaboury was not the only high-ranking official arrested during the operation. Adam Sambrano Jr., 39, security director for the Coachella Valley Unified School District, was arrested Jan. 27 in Palm Desert as part of the sting. Read more here.