SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – Edward 'Eddie' Alessandro Zarate has been arrested for inappropriate online messages with multiple minors and meeting at least two children for lewd acts.
Investigators believe there may be additional survivors and anyone with more information is asked to contact Sheriff's Detectives at 805-681-4150 or you can report information while remaining anonymous by calling the Sheriff's Office tipline at 805-681-4171 or by visiting here.
On May 28, 2026, detectives with the local sheriff's office began investigating the 20-year-old Santa Maria resident over allegations of communicating with underage girls online and exchanging sexually explicit material stated the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office in a press release Thursday.
Detective learned over the course of their investigation that Zarate used applications including Whipd, Purp, Wizz, Snapchat, and text messaging to communicate with multiple children noted the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.
According to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, investigators believe Zarate communicated with children in multiple states including Florida and Illinois as well as the California communities of Santa Barbara, Lompoc, Paso Robles, Nipomo, Arroyo Grande, Oxnard, San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Zarate's profiles on the above applications indicated that he was a minor, but, once he established communications with a child, he would often encourage them to move the conversations off those platforms and over text messages before revealing his true age and identity detailed the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.
Detectives are currently aware of two girls who Zarate met with in person and engaged in lewd acts and, based on the extent of his actions uncovered so far, it is believed there may be additional survivors explained the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.
On June 10, 2026, Zarate was arrested and booked at the Northern Branch Jail on multiple felony charges including oral copulation with a person under the age of 18, unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, sending harmful material to a minor, and two counts of possession of obscene material depicting a minor stated the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.
Anyone who communicated with Zarate through Whipd, Purp, Wizz, Snapchat, and/or over text messages or on any online platform is asked to contact Sheriff's detectives and guardians are asked to speak with their children about the risks of speaking with strangers online, sharing personal information, and moving from social media platforms and applications to private messages or texts.
Edward ‘Eddie’ Zarate Charged With Illegal Communication and Contact With Minors; More Survivors Expected to Come Forward News Channel 3-12.
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