7 men, including sex offender, ensnared in Alabama child sex operation
Seven men, including a registered sex offender, are facing human trafficking and other charges after they were ensnared in an undercover operation where authorities posed as a 14-year-old girl who sought to perform sex acts for money.
The defendants were arrested last Thursday and Friday in Dothan as part of Operation: Back to School, a law enforcement operation that targets child predators, authorities told WDHN.
Undercover officers posed as a 14-year-old girl online and posted an ad seeking money in exchange for sexual services.
“It’s quite evident by these seven arrests that these individuals [knew] that they or thought they were meeting a 14-year-old for illegal sex [acts and] chose to do so,” said Maj. Bill Rafferty with the Houston County Sherrif’s Office, according to WDHN.
The men arrested are:
- Jakhari Martin, 28 of Dothan
- Jazzmund Cunningham, 26 of Slocomb
- Wilmer Ponce-Gomez, 26 of Ozark
- Brandon Mitchell, 38 of Arlington, Georgia; a registered sex offender
- Vidal Guice, 28 of Troy
- Pierre Dyck, 41 of Dothan
- Jameson Lopez-Chanchavac, 21 of Thomasville, Georgia
The defendants were charged with first-degree human trafficking, electronic solicitation of a child by a computer device and traveling to meet a child for sex.