JOHNSON COUNTY, Ind. — Eleven Indiana men were arrested in a three-day child sex sting operation, conducted by the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, Franklin Police Department and Marion County Sheriff's Office.
This was the third child sex sting operation conducted in the last two years by the departments. Investigators called this particular scheme "unthinkable."
Detectives set up fake profiles on sexual websites, posing as 14-year-olds. Johnson County Sheriff Duane Burgess said the profiles were very clear that the person was a minor.
"When you see these individuals chat with somebody that they think is 14 years old, it turns your stomach," Burgess said. "I mean, these people aren't right. This sickens me."
In a news release, Burgess asked parents to be vigilant in reviewing the websites their children are visiting on their computers and phones.
"We cannot be our child's best friend all of the time," Burgess said. "You must be diligent in this process in order to protect them from the evil that exist on these sites and social media."
Burgess said the accused predators started chatting about explicit sexual acts and fantasies with the investigators, who they believed to be teens. Eventually, the suspects planned to meet them in person.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the men were often directed to a gas station — sometimes to buy a pop for the teenager — then they were given the address to a house, where they thought they were meeting up with an underage boy or girl.
Instead, they were met by police.
Detectives say some of the accused brought sex toys, liquor, even guns. Now, they're facing felony charges.
The following people were arrested:
- Jeff Hendricks, 49, of Unionville; charged with sex crime child solicitation and resisting law enforcement
- Samual N. Kaufman, 20, of Bloomington; charged with sex crime child solicitation
- Joshua Lynn Sliter, 30, of Greentown; charged with sex crime child solicitation and obscenity/pornographic providing obscene material to minors
- Derick Osvaldo Sosa, 19, of Indianapolis; charged with sex crime child solicitation and resisting law enforcement
- Jason A. Thornton, 40, of Indianapolis; charged with sex crime child solicitation, controlled substance-possess methamphetamine, motor vehicle habitual traffic violator, weapon/instrument of violence-felon in possession of firearm, forgery-counterfeiting and application fraud
- Francisco Bernardo Amaya Marquez, 25, of Indianapolis; charged with sex crime child solicitation
- Dylan Cole Muncy, 22, of Indianapolis; charged with obscenity/pornographic providing obscene material to minors
- Chase Maxwell Reese, 30, of McCordsville; charged with sex crime child solicitation and obscenity/pornographic providing obscene material to minors
- Nicholas Sorley, 22, of Sharpsville; charged with sex crime child solicitation
- James W. Thomas II, 35, of Greenwood; charged with sex crime child solicitation and controlled substance possession of marijuana or hash
- Dustin Ussery, 35, of Anderson; charged with sex crime child solicitation
"I'm very proud to have these individuals — these 11 — off the street because you don't know where they would have gone," Burgess said. "To show up with a weapon? You wonder what their whole goal was."
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