Fourteen suspects were busted Thursday following an undercover child sex predator sting in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to police.
In a social media post, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said the group was arrested for allegedly luring a minor with a computer to engage in sex during the operation authorities performed on June 1 and 2:
According to WJAC, when the undercover agents involved in the Internet Crimes Against Children sting posed as 13- and 14-year-olds, the suspects solicited them for sex.
It was not long before a meeting was scheduled and officials arrested the suspects.
LVMPD’s Internet Crimes Against Children web page detailed the type of crimes its members investigate:
Crimes such as the manufacturing, distribution or possession of child pornography; luring children with technology, kidnap, sexual assault, statutory sexual seduction, lewdness with a minor, open and gross lewdness, interstate travel for the purpose of sex with a minor, interstate transmission of child pornography and related offences. ICAC investigators work closely with other HSC detectives and crimes often overlap between department sections and squads. ICAC cases generally involve three things: a child, an electronic device such as a computer or cellular phone, and a sexually related crime.
Those arrested were listed as John George, 29, David Peterson Moore, 28, Jon Colquitt, 34, Manuel Vasquez, 23, Tyler Reed, 37, Juan Jurado, 29, Joshua Jivan, 42, Tomas Franco Valdovinos, 37, Ethan Fillmore, 20, Jonathan Graybill, 61, Ricardo Perez, 41, Abdul Ahmad, 45, David Freidhof, 26, and Curtis Schell, 19.
The WJAC report said the suspects face charges of luring a minor with a computer to engage in sex and noted authorities urged citizens with more information regarding these individuals to contact them.
In October, police arrested 15 suspects for alleged luring and solicitation during another undercover operation in Nevada, according to KTNV.
Meanwhile, “The internet, for all of its benefits, also gives criminals and predators an easy way to reach young people,” according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) website.
“The most important advice for parents is to have open and ongoing conversations about safe and appropriate online behavior,” the agency said.