Woodstock Police Help GBI Execute Child Sex Sting

Editor’s note: One person’s was removed from this report because his or her charges were nolle prossed.

WOODSTOCK, GA -- The Woodstock Police Department was one of several agencies that helped take down nearly 20 people accused of traveling to south Georgia to have sex with a child.

The undercover investigation was coordinated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit (CEACC), the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Glynn County Police Department.

Eighteen people were arrested over a five day period beginning May 12, and those arrestees were charged with violating the state's Computer or Electronic Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 2007.

The operation, dubbed Operation Riptide, was a five day proactive effort centered in Glynn County. Those arrested, ranging in age from 19 to 58, allegedly traveled from the Brunswick and north Florida "with the intent to a meet a child for sex," the GBI said in a news release.

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Those arrested include:

• Kenneth Dwayne Baker, 24, of Waynesville; occupation: HVAC worker
• Christopher Oquendo Martinez, 24, of Jacksonville, Florida; occupation: construction worker
• Donald Ray Sheffield, 58, of Jacksonville; occupation: truck driver
• [Name Withheld], 25, of Jacksonville; occupation: pharmacy student
• Rigoberto Margarito Hernandez, 21, of Brunswick; occupation: construction
• Andrew Chase Lowe, 19, of St. Mary’s; occupation: landscaper
• John Robert Schmidt, 36, of Jacksonville; occupation: food & beverage manager
• Samuel M. Lee, 26, St. Mary’s; occupation: defense contractor
• Michael Morrow Foley, 52, of Ponte Vedra Beach, Forida; occupation: driver
• Ulbio Quijije, 26 years, of Kingsland; occupation: self employed
• Andrew Paul Stawniczy, 25, of Orange Park, Florida; occupation: tire store employee
• Bryant Keith Taylor, 35, of Brunswick; occupation: truck driver
• Armando Modesto-Sevilla, 22, of Waycross; occupation: agricultural worker
• Joshua Adam Bullard, 19, of Kings Bay; occupation: U.S. Navy
• Aaron Wayne Jacobs, 27, of Waynesville; occupation: EMT/fireman
• Antwan Levar Polite, 26, of Hinesville; occupation: restaurant employee/student
• Kevin Scott Kerr, 48, of St. Paul, Minnesota; occupation: commodities trader/news contributor
• Troy Austin Piano, 23, of Jacksonville; occupation: self employed

Along with the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit (CEACC), the Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center (GISAC) and the Glynn County Police Department, 18 additional law enforcement agencies and prosecutors’ offices participated in Operation Riptide as members of the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Those agencies were: Alpharetta Police Department; Atlanta Police Department; Brunswick Police Department; Clayton County Police Department; Cook County Sheriff’s Department; Coweta County Sheriff’s Office; DeKalb County Police Department; Glynn County District Attorney’s Office; Glynn County Sheriff’s Office; Houston County Sheriff’s Office; Jasper County Sheriff’s Office; Liberty County Sheriff’s Office; McIntosh County Sheriff’s Office; Polk County Police Department; Woodstock Police Department; U.S. Secret Service; Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Homeland Security Investigations.

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