3 Bartow Residents Arrested in Child Sex Trafficking Sting

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Chattanooga, TN -- More than two dozen people were arrested across two states as part of a coordinated effort to crack down adults seeking to have sex with children.

A total of 35 people were arrested during a mutually coordinated operation between Georgia and Tennessee law enforcement agencies, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Friday in a press release.

Operation Watchful Guardians targeted “online child predators and those who traffic both children and adults in the sex industry, to include those that are willing to pay to have sex with a child,” the agency said.

The joint, proactive undercover investigation was coordinated by the GBI and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), along with the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office, Dalton Police Department, Chattanooga Police Department and members of both the Georgia and Tennessee Internet Crimes Against Children task forces.

Operation Watchful Guardians was conducted over a three-day period beginning Feb. 2, and was centered in Dalton and Chattanooga.

In Georgia, 12 people were arrested over a two day period beginning Wednesday, Feb. 3.

Those arrested in Georgia were charged with crimes including criminal attempt to commit child molestation and criminal attempt to commit trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude. Additionally, one adult was identified and arrested on adult prostitution related charges.

Investigations continue and additional charges may be forthcoming, the GBI states.

The arrestees, ranging in age from 19 to 43, traveled primarily from areas around Dalton and Chattanooga, but some from as far as Gwinnett County with the intent to meet a child for sex, the GBI said.

Some of those who were arrested had agreed to pay to have sex with the child; one person was arrested with a gun and a butcher knife.

The following were arrested and charged in Whitfield County as part of Operation Watchful Guardians:

• Virgil McKeachie, 38, Rydal; unemployed
• Kekuta Jatta, 20, of Smyrna; college student
• Amber Gaston, Chattanooga, TN, manufacturing worker
• Jin Lee, 26, of Buford; occupation unknown
• Carlos Rivas-Canales, 32, of Adairsville; occupation unknown
• Warren Hicks, 21, of White; factory worker/college student
• Albert Stafford, 43, of Acworth; manager for a temp agency
• Javier Lopez, 23, of Marietta; phone company sales associate
• Nathan Murawski, 36, of Marietta; paper delivery service
• Martin Juarez Jr., 25, of Huntersville, TX; tree cutting service
• Josue Cartagena, 19, of Cedar Park, TX; tree cutting service
• Francis Larety, 41, of Grayson; truck driver

Along with the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit, the Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center (GISAC), Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office, Dalton Police Department and four additional law enforcement agencies participated in Operation Watchful Guardians as members of the Georgia ICAC Task Force: Woodstock Police Department, Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations.

The purpose of Operation Watchful Guardians was to arrest those that are willing to exploit children by purchasing sex with a minor, and the recruitment of victims of child sex trafficking.

The operation specifically targeted the demand side of child sex trafficking. The operation also targeted those persons who communicate with children online and then travel to meet them for the purpose of having sex.

The Georgia ICAC Task Force is comprised of more than 200 local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, other related criminal justice agencies and prosecutor’s offices.

The mission of the ICAC Task Force, created by the U. S. Department of Justice and managed and operated by the GBI, is to assist state and local law enforcement agencies in developing an effective response to cyber enticement and child pornography cases. This support encompasses forensic and investigative components, training and technical assistance, victim services, prevention and community education.

The Georgia ICAC Task Force made 244 arrests in 2015. The GA ICAC TF received almost 3,000 tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in 2015 and worked 3,872 investigations related to child exploitation. The GA ICAC TF also conducted 391 internet safety presentations.