VALDOSTA, Ga. — 14 people were arrested in South Georgia last week after a four-day operation targeting child predators.
According to the GBI, Operation Broken Arrow was based around the Valdosta area and took several months of planning to execute.
The GBI says the 14 people arrested range in age from 24-57 and they traveled from areas around South Georgia with the intent to meet a child for sex.
They were identified as:
- Dave Vincent Almon, 43, retail manager
- Billy Stephen Carter, 57, truck driver
- Eric Bernard Copeland, press operator
- Walter Lee Curry, 33, laborer
- Jamian Hogan, 34, retail associate
- John Henry Hursey, 45, carpenter
- Eugene Andega Mainah, 35, unemployed
- Keith Morrison, 43, truck driver
- Wyman Rene Phillips, 36, electrician
- Wilford Sermons, 28, customer service representative
- Josue Trejo, 31, forklift driver
- Bronson Jamari D. Tripp, 24, retail associate
- Keith Walters, 44, university Dean
- Justin Na’eem Warren, 24, student
Photos: Operation Broken Arrow arrests
The Valdosta State University web site lists Walters as the dean of the College of Science and Mathematics.
The GBI says at least one of the people they arrested had previously been arrested on a peeping tom charge, and at least two of the other arrestees had been investigated for sex crimes before.
19 mobile devices were seized as evidence in the operation.
According to the news release, investigators had more than 120 exchanges with people on social media or the Internet platforms. Over 40 cases were established that met the threshold for arrest, and 14 of those cases were concluded with arrests.
The 14 are formally charged with violating the Computer or Electronic Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 2007 and/or Trafficking of Persons for Labor or Sexual Servitude.
Additional charges and arrests may be forthcoming.
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