FRANKLIN — Nine men have been arrested in Johnson County for allegedly soliciting sex from a 14-year-old girl.
The arrests followed a three-day sting operation named "Operation Firewall" by the Johnson County Sheriff's office. Details of the investigation and arrests were announced Friday by the sheriff and the country prosecutor.
Sheriff Duane Burgess called the operation “eye opening.” "Watch their kids and know what they are doing [on line]. These people exist in your community and will come hurt your children.”
Nine men and one woman were arrested. The men were charged with child solicitation, and two were also charged with dissemination of material harmful to a minor. The woman faces a misdemeanor drug possession charge. She allegedly was with one of the men when he was arrested. The solicitation charge could send a suspect to prison for up to 12-years.
Operation Firewall was aimed at finding and arresting people interested in having sex with underage girls. Authorities worked with the non-profit group Covenant Rescue in what is the first operation of this type and scale in Johnson County.
Detectives set up profiles on certain sexually-oriented web sites and would wait for individuals to start to send a chat message. During those chat messages it was made clear that the girl in the profile was just 14. Arrangements were made for the suspects to come to the teenager's location, a Greenwood hotel, and when they did, arrests were made.
"We got the chance to, for a brief moment, get a peek behind the curtain into a whole other world. That world is dark and depraved, and it is everywhere” said Johnson County Prosecutor Joe Villanueva. “I look forward to working with our law enforcement to conduct future operations like this. The more people we take off the streets desirous of these kinds of interactions the safer all kids can be.”
Charges against the nine men were filed in Johnson County Superior Court. They are identified as:
- Michael Gaiski, 62
- John Dulin, 46
- Preston Carpenter, 24
- Jason Cleveland, 24
- John Kent, 57
- Russell Burke, 58
- Robert Bland, 29
- Gregory Stennette, 37
- Fredy Berlamino-Perez Bauten, 37
