Occidental Man Sexually Assaulted Teen He Met On Snapchat: SRPD

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — An Occidental man was booked Thursday into Sonoma County jail on suspicion of sexually assaulting an underage girl he met through Snapchat, the Santa Rosa Police Department said.

Peter Matthew Duranceau, 25, turned himself in Thursday to Santa Rosa police detectives who'd identified him as the suspect through social media analysis earlier this month, SRPD Sgt. Christopher Mahurin said.

The victim reported the sexual assault to the Santa Rosa Police Department in mid-January and told investigators the adult male suspect initially contacted her through the Snapchat social media app.

"The suspect engaged in sexually explicit conversation with someone he knew to be a juvenile," Mahurin said in a news release Thursday. "The suspect also convinced the victim to meet with him and sexually assaulted her."

Since January, detectives with SRPD's Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault analyzed several social media accounts, searched online databases and conducted forensic interviews.

Once detectives identified Duranceau, they identified a second victim, Mahurin said.

"The second victim never met Duranceau, but he engaged the juvenile in sexually explicit conversation and tried to convince the victim to meet up with him," Mahurin said.

Detectives were still working to track down and arrest Duranceau when he contacted detectives Thursday and turned himself in, Mahurin said.

"Based on the detectives’ investigation, Peter Duranceau is suspected of committing a sexual assault and attempting to lure juveniles with the intent to commit a sexual assault," Mahurin said.

Duranceau was booked into jail Thursday on suspicion of one felony count of lewd acts against a 14- or 15-year-old child, one felony count of sending harmful or obscene material to a juvenile, five felony counts of communicating with a minor with the intent to commit a sex crime, three felony counts of arranging to meet a minor with the intent to engage in sexual conduct, and one felony count of possessing child pornography, according to Santa Rosa police.

Sonoma County jail records confirmed his bail was set at $900,000.

Detectives believe there are more victims associated with Duranceau's criminal behavior, Mahurin said.

SRPD said any victims/survivors associated with the investigation can contact Detective Boehm at 707-543-4048. Victims can also contact detectives through SRPD's online Tip Line.