A school psychologist snared in an undercover sting targeting suspected sexual predators in the Inland Empire, where he allegedly sought personal contact with an individual whom he thought was a teenager, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to felony charges.
Paul Ryan Coleman, 46, of Yucaipa was arrested last week following a three-month investigation by the Riverside County Child Exploitation Team, comprised of law enforcement personnel from multiple agencies.
Coleman is charged with attempted lewd acts on a child under 14 years old, arranging to meet a minor and contact with an underage person for the purpose perpetrating specific offenses.
He was arraigned Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Gail O’Rane, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for March 26 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Coleman is being held in lieu of $30,000 bail at the Byrd Detention Center.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, last fall, the defendant allegedly initiated communications via social media with a person he assumed to be a 13-year-old girl.
The agency alleged he “exchanged hundreds of sexually explicit messages with an undercover investigator” who was posing as the child online.
On Thursday afternoon, Coleman allegedly left his home and traveled to Riverside to meet the person — at which point he was taken into custody without incident at a fast food restaurant on Arlington Avenue.
Prosecutors said Coleman was confirmed to be a licensed psychologist, employed by the Nuview Union School District in Nuevo. His most recent assignment was the Nuview Bridge Early College High School. However, after his arrest, he immediately resigned his position with the district, according to the D.A.’s office.
Coleman has no documented prior felony convictions in California.
