Darlington man 1 of 17 arrested in South Carolina online child sex sting

LEXINGTON, S.C. (WBTW) — A Darlington man is one of 17 arrested in an online child sex sting, according to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office.

The month-long operation involving more than a dozen law enforcement agencies resulted in the arrests of 17 men accused of contacting children online for sexual activity, the sheriff’s office said. An additional man is wanted on charges for exchanging messages with law enforcement officers posing as minors on social media.

“We, along with the Lexington Police Department and the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, served as the host agencies for this operation,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said. “Officers pretended to be underage teenagers as the suspects messaged them through apps. Some even had phone conversations with officers. After the suspect asked to meet with ‘the child,’ detectives were staged at a pre-determined meeting spot to arrest them.”

Most of the messages involved sexually explicit images and language, according to officials. No children were used or harmed during the operation.

The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Secret Service, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Cayce Department of Public Safety, the Mount Pleasant Police Department, the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, and the Aiken Department of Public Safety also assisted in the operation.

The following people were arrested:

William Banks, 51, of Liberty — attempted criminal sexual conduct with a minor, attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, attempted disseminating obscene material to a person under 18

Steven Bradley, 42, of West Columbia — two counts of attempted criminal sexual conduct with a minor, criminal solicitation of a minor, unlawful carry of a handgun

Darrin Bray, 40, of Greenville, Illinois — attempted disseminating obscene material to a person under 18, attempted sexual exploitation of a minor

Kevin Carpenter, 26, of Evergreen, North Carolina — attempted disseminating obscene material to a person under 18, criminal solicitation of a minor, attempted criminal sexual conduct with a minor

Brian Cates, 54, of North Augusta — criminal solicitation of a minor, attempted disseminating obscene material to a person under 18

Geoffrey Dudding, 36, of Charlotte — conspiracy to commit criminal sexual conduct with a minor, criminal solicitation of a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, attempted promoted prostitution of a minor

Mark Frick, 54, of Gaston — attempted criminal sexual conduct with a minor, criminal solicitation of a minor

Keair Fuewell, 23, of Gloverville — criminal solicitation of a minor, attempted disseminating obscene material to a person under 19

Landon Gibson, 40, of Simpsonville — three counts of attempted disseminating obscene material to a person under 18, criminal solicitation of a minor

Kane Hicks, 23, of Darlington — attempted sexual exploitation of a minor

Walter Huggins, 45, of Camden — criminal solicitation of a minor, attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, attempted disseminating obscene material to a person under 18

David Jones, 51, of Pelion — attempted criminal sexual conduct with a minor, criminal solicitation of a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor

Willie Manning, 57, of Winnsboro — criminal solicitation of a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor

Joshua Paczowski, 21, of Lexington — attempted criminal sexual conduct with a minor, criminal solicitation of a minor

Misael Quezada, 31, of Blythewood — criminal solicitation of a minor

Eric Setterberg, 54, of Gadsden — attempted criminal sexual exploitation of a minor, attempted criminal sexual conduct with a minor

Charles Templeton, 74, of Gaston — criminal solicitation of a minor, attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, attempted disseminating obscene material to a person under 18

Officials said more arrests are expected as investigators pursue charges against other suspects who were identified during the operation.

https://www.wbtw.com/news/state-regional-news/darlington-man-1-of-17-arrested-in-south-carolina-online-child-sex-sting/

Southern Or. task force arrests 6 local suspects for 61 felony counts of encouraging child sex abuse

Rogue Valley, Ore. –Six separate suspects were arrested Thursday on 61 Encouraging Child Sex Abuse felony charges.

The Southern Oregon Child Exploitation Team (SOCET) joint inter-agency task force made the arrests, after numerous local agencies served warrants throughout Jackson and Josephine counties. SOCET is a joint inter-agency task force that started in June of 2020, to combat child exploitation and human trafficking.

Police say the cases are not connected, but the investigations uncovered nearly 7,000 images of child exploitation. Among the six people arrested, there are 44 first-degree felony charges, and 17 second-degree charges.

Officials say one-third of the suspects arrested had local child victims.

Police say the investigations led the task force throughout the Rogue Valley, including addresses in Ashland, Central Point, Grants Pass, Medford, Talent, and White City. These locations included where suspects uploaded child exploitation images, as well as their residences and places of employment.

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tips started each investigation, which led to subpoenas, followed by search warrants at the respective residences. Digital devices were seized and were forensically examined at the Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force.

33-year-old Anthony Paul Craker of Ashland, was arrested on 15 felony counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse in the First Degree. Police say during the course of the investigation it was discovered Craker was communicating sexually with minors and was found to be in possession of more than 700 child exploitation images. He is now lodged at the Jackson County jail on $250,000 bail.

31-year-old White City resident Jon Paul Bouchard was arrested on two First Degree felony counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse. He is now lodged at the Jackson County jail on $50,000 bail.

19-year-old Omar De Jesus Galvan of White City, was arrested on 10 First Degree felony counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse. Police say De Jesus Galvan was found to be in possession of more than 3,600 images of child exploitation, and is now lodged at the Jackson County jail on $250,000 bail.

Stephen Bernard Habermann, 60, of Grants Pass

60-year-old Stephen Bernard Habermann of Grants Pass, was arrested on 11 First Degree felony counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse. Investigators discovered images of local children downloaded from social media and altered so the victims looked nude, and police say the images were then traded online for child pornography. Habermann was found to be in possession of more than 500 child exploitation images. He is now lodged at the Josephine County jail on $250,000 bail.

Medford resident Christopher Randall Savage, 39, was arrested on two First Degree felony counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse, and 12 Second Degree felony counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse. Police say Savage was found to be in possession of more than 2000 images of child exploitation. He is now lodged at the Jackson County jail on $250,000 bail.

38 year-old Matthew Alan Desmet of Central Point, was arrested on four First Degree felony counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse, and five Second Degree felony counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse. Police say Desmet was found to be in possession of 19 child exploitation images. He is now lodged at the Jackson County jail on $250,000 bail.

https://kobi5.com/news/local-news/southern-or-task-force-arrests-6-local-suspects-for-61-felony-counts-of-encouraging-child-sex-abuse-166471/