LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Two men arrested last month in connection to a large marijuana cultivation operation also are facing human trafficking charges for having brought from Southern California a 15-year-old runaway girl who they allegedly kept at their remote grow location and sexually assaulted.
Ryan Alan Balletto, 30, of Lakeport and Patrick Steven Pearmain, 24, of Clearlake, both remain in the Lake County Jail on no-bail holds following their arrests on May 1.
Since the May arrests investigators have found evidence that the two men had kept a Southern California teenager at the location and sexually assaulted her, according to court documents.
The men also are alleged at one point to have kept the girl in a large box as a punishment, according to District Attorney Don Anderson.
Pearmain’s attorney, Tom Quinn, declined comment at this stage in the case, and Balletto’s attorney, Mitch Hauptman, did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Deputy District Attorney Ed Borg, who is handling the sex crimes case against the men, said they are facing charges of human trafficking, statutory rape, oral copulation on a person under age 16, sodomy, false imprisonment, annoying or molesting a child. Balletto also is charged with lewd and lascivious acts on a child under age 14 or 15.
They could each face nearly 16 years in prison if convicted of all the charges, Borg said.
While the California Attorney General's Office has put increased focus on fighting human trafficking, which the agency said is the world's fastest growing enterprise, human trafficking cases are rare in Lake County, Borg said.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever charged it,” he said.
Balletto and Pearmain were arrested during the service of a search warrant on Balletto’s 681-acre property near Clearlake Oaks, where the Lake County Sheriff’s Office SWAT Team, Narcotics Task Force and Major Crimes Unit found nearly 1,500 marijuana plants and more than $4,000 in cash, as Lake County News has reported.
Also seized at that time was as a large cache of weapons, including high-powered military grade sniper and assault rifles, automatic assault rifles and pistols, and ammunition, high capacity magazines, military grade body armor and military grade scopes.
Lake County Sheriff’s officials said it was the largest and most sophisticated bulk of weapons seized in the agency’s recent history.
According to court documents, it's estimated that the street value of Balletto's marijuana cultivation operation was $22 million annually.
Originally, Balletto was booked with bail set at $10 million, with Pearmain's bail set at $1 million. They've since had holds put on them preventing them from posting bail.
Balletto’s girlfriend, Christa McConnell, also arrested on May 1 for weapons and child endangerment charges, pleaded earlier this month to a misdemeanor child endangerment arising from a weapon having been found in proximity to her children at the Lakeport home she shares with Balletto. Borg said McConnell had no record to speak of previously.
At the time of Balletto and Pearmain’s arrest the sheriff’s office had indicated the men were being investigated for numerous sex crimes, with that work leading to the second case.
Borg said the marijuana cultivation and weapons case against the men is being handled separate from the case involving human trafficking and sex crimes.
Both cases are scheduled for preliminary hearing July 10, according to court records.
Borg said there may be an effort at some point to join both cases against Pearmain and Balletto.
Human trafficking allegations come to light
A number of different agencies are involved in the human trafficking case, Borg said.
He said the human trafficking charge alleges that the teen girl was brought from some distance to Lake County.
“It’s not clear to me she had any real idea where she was,” he said.
Borg said Los Angeles County officials contacted local authorities about the missing girl. Court documents relate that Los Angeles authorities had information that Balletto had brought the girl to Northern California to use in a child pornography operation.
Borg said it doesn’t appear as if the girl initially was coerced to come to the area.
It’s believed the girl was on the property for about a month before she and Pearmain were picked up in another county on April 30, Borg said. He did not divulge where that April encounter with law enforcement occurred, other than to say it happened in Northern California.
The girl has since gone into protective custody outside of Lake County, Borg said.
The situation involving the girl also involves a third suspect.
Eric George Edgar, 45, was arrested on May 16 in connection with the case, Borg said.
Edgar is charged with statutory rape for having allegedly raped the teenage girl when they were alone together on the property. He's also facing charges for making criminal threats and attempting to dissuade a witness, Borg said.
The girl was being kept in a small group of trailers on the property, while Edgar was staying in a trailer more than an hour’s hike across a canyon. Edgar is alleged to have happened upon the girl and raped her, Borg said.
Edgar’s bail originally was set at $1 million, but jail records indicated he has since been released.
His attorney, Lisa Proffitt, said the case against her client isn’t a strong one.
“There’s no forensic evidence connecting him to the incident in any way, shape or form,” she said.
The only evidence so far is the girl’s recorded statements against Edgar, according to Proffitt, who said it’s unusual in a case of such gravity to not have witnesses or forensic evidence to back up the allegations.
Borg said Edgar also is alleged to have been involved in the marijuana cultivation taking place on the property, but he hasn’t been charged in that separate case and probably won’t be.
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