Sandy Springs Man Charged in Child Sex Sting

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA -- A Sandy Springs man was among 23 suspects arrested over a five day period as part of a crackdown on the use of the internet to seek out sex with children by numerous law enforcement agencies.

Operation Spring Cleaning was a proactive undercover investigation coordinated by the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit (CEACC), the Gwinnett County Police Department, the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office and the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office.

Arrests for Operation Spring Cleaning began Thursday, April 20, the GBI said Monday. Those suspects were charged with violating the state's Computer or Electronic Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 2007.

The operation took months of planning. The arrestees, ranging in age from 19 to 48, traveled from areas around metro Atlanta with the intent to meet a child for sex. Those arrested in the sweep include:

• Scott Robert Baxter, Tucker, GA, 34, retail employee
• Andrew Sean Carroll, Dacula, GA, 19, grounds maintenance
• Brian Dwayne Clark, Winder, GA, 41, mechanic
• Alisha Gagguturu, Suwanee, GA, 23, unknown
• Connor Fionn Hale, Lawrenceville, GA, 23, unemployed
• Demetrius Deshawn Harper, Lawrenceville, GA, 22, automotive technician
• Joel Blake Jackson, from Braselton, GA, 22, gas station attendant
• Rasesh Jagtap, Alpharetta, GA, 33, information technology specialist
• Akshat Jasra, Alpharetta, GA, 35, software consultant
• David Kelley, College Park, GA, 22, model display builder
• Steven Anthony King, Clarksville, GA, 26, warehouse employee
• Horacio Mendoza, Lawrenceville, GA, 48, construction worker
• Andrew Ryan Murphy, Norcross, GA, 22, janitor
• Max Park, Suwanee, GA, 37, unemployed
• Edward Harold Ramsey, Wichita, KS, 24, USAF
• Melchior Simon, Duluth, GA, 28, unemployed
• Martinez-Torres Sixto, from Norcross, GA, 30, electrician
• Brett William Smith, Jr., 35, floor installer
• Zadok Smith, Duluth, GA, 27, furniture assembler
• James Evan Soggs, Sandy Springs, GA, 20, warehouse employee
• Adis Spahic, Lawrenceville, GA, 40, warehouse manager
• Ertiza Talukder, Lawrenceville, GA, 23, hotel employee
• William David Warren, Winder, GA, 41, shop foreman

Along with targeting people who communicate online with children and then travel to meet them to have sex, the operation also targeted those who are "willing to exploit children by purchasing sex with a minor," the GBI said.

Online child predators visit chat rooms and websites on the internet, find children, begin conversations with them, introduce sexual content and arrange a meeting with the children for the purpose of having sex. The children these predators target are both boys and girls.

Since 2014, the Georgia ICAC Task Force has arrested 77 people in similar operations. Along with those agencies who participated in the planning and coordinating of the operation 15, additional law enforcement agencies participated in the operation as members of the Georgia ICAC Task Force.

These agencies were: Alpharetta Police Department, Atlanta Police Department, Clayton County Police Department, Columbus Police Department, Coweta County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center (GISAC), Glynn County Police Department, Hall County Sheriff’s Office, LaGrange Police Department, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Marietta Police Department Polk County Police Department, Woodstock Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations.

The online investigation was a coordinated effort among the participating law enforcement agencies to combat this activity. GBI Special Agent in Charge and Commander of the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Debbie Garner stated “this type of cooperation and collaboration is invaluable in the effort to keep our children safe from predators who seek to harm them."

"This successful operation was a partnership amongst all the agencies involved," Garner added. "We will continue to aggressively work together to protect our children.”

Image via Shutterstock