South Carolina undercover sting busts 11 men creeping kids online

An undercover sting operation in South Carolina busted 11 males arrested and charged with contacting youngsters by way of varied social media platforms and apps and arranging to satisfy for sexual exercise. 

Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon, in asserting the arrests of 11 males on Monday, defined that regulation enforcement officers pretended to underage youngsters because the suspects messaged them by way of social media apps. These apps included the favored cellular messaging app Kik, in addition to Google Voice, Textnow, Skout, and Fb Messenger, The State, a Columbia-based newspaper, reported. 

“After the suspect requested to satisfy with ‘the kid,’ detectives had been staged at a predetermined assembly spot to arrest them,” Koon mentioned in an announcement. “There isn’t a doubt in regards to the intent of those suspects when the messages and pictures they despatched are reviewed.”

“That’s why it’s necessary for folks to know who their youngsters are speaking with on-line as a result of sexual predators are on the lookout for alternatives to take advantage of them,” the sheriff added. No precise youngsters had been used or positioned in hurt’s manner in the course of the operation, he mentioned. 

The boys charged are: Christopher Michael Alexander, 30, Gilbert, South Carolina, Bryan Keith Beane, 61, Kings Mountain, North Carolina, Jason Brandon Davis, 41, Lexington, South Carolina, Rodney Carlton Fussell, 25, Leesville, South Carolina, Terry Dwayne Goins Jr., 23, Gilbert, South Carolina, Nicholas Banks Jeffcoat, 33, Columbia, South Carolina, Robert Mitchum Nichols, 67, Florence, South Carolina, Karl Jordan Platt, 28, Columbia, South Carolina, George Stanley Sawyer Jr., 42, Lexington, South Carolina, Hunter Allen Trammell, 20, Newberry, South Carolina, Terry William Volcke, 29, Elgin, South Carolina.

Along with the Lexington County Sheriff’s Division, the operation additionally concerned the South Carolina Legal professional Common’s Workplace, FBI, Homeland Safety Investigations, the U.S. Secret Service, the Naval Prison Investigative Service, U.S. Marshals Service, Cayce Police Division, Mount Nice Police Division, Charleston County Sheriff’s Workplace, Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Workplace, Marion County Sheriff’s Workplace, Aiken Division of Public Security, Aiken County Sheriff’s Workplace, West Columbia Police Division, Irmo Police Division, Kershaw County Sheriff’s Workplace and Camden Police Division.