Several law enforcement agencies in Georgia took part in Operation mayday, an undercover investigation targeting online child predators.
Officers arrested 22 people they say were traveling from all over Georgia and South Carolina with the intent to have sex with a child.
Richmond County Sheriff Richard Roundtree called a last minute press conference Monday morning, and News Channel 6’s, Margaret-Ann Carter was there to get the details.
Officials started the operation on last Thursday and ended early this morning.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes unit worked closely with the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.
“We are actively seeking child predators,” Richmond County Sheriff Richard Roundtree said.
Sheriff Roundtree calls Operation Mayday a success in preventing several child predators from attacking again. The operation allows officers to go into undercover chat rooms with potential predators disguising themselves as teens.
Special agent Debbie Garner says 6 of the people arrested admitted to previous sexual contact with a child.
“They were coming to meet children 14 and 15 years old, in the past they’ve come to meet children as young as 10,” Garner said.
Among the many people arrested is 19 year old Heather Myers who serves as a soldier at fort Gordon, and 52 year old Ruben Reese who is a deputy jailer. Garner says there’s no stereotype when it comes to child predators.
“In this operation there were at least 2 of the people were with the intent of trading something of value in order to have sex with the child,” Garner explained.
She says officers also found child pornography on several of the arrestees computers and cell phones. As for specifics on how they captured these suspects… she says that’s top secret because they want to be able to use operation Mayday again.
Sheriff Roundtree also said there could be more arrests on the way. Those arrested were charged with criminal attempt to commit child molestation.
No bail has been set for them and they will remain in jail until they go in front of a judge to face their charges
Nearly Two Dozen Arrested in Operation Mayday
Sheriff Roundtree Holds “Operation Mayday” Press Conference, Talks About Child Predator Arrests
