A massive multi-agency sting in Nash County has removed sixteen alleged predators from the streets following a four-day undercover operation. Officials with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation said more than 150 officers from 13 different agencies worked in Nashville to stop online exploitation, resulted in more than 80 criminal charges.
Investigators say the suspects believed they were communicating with children under the age of 16. In reality, they were messaging undercover officers posing as minors. The list of those charged ranges in age from 19 to 87. Charges include statutory rape, solicitation of a child by computer, and first-degree sexual exploitation. Among those arrested was a fugitive from Florida and a person facing 13 separate counts of sexual exploitation.
Nashville Police Chief Caleb Shockley credited the "power of teamwork" for the operation's success, noting that the goal was to stop exploitation before it ever reached a real child.
Authorities are now urging parents to stay vigilant and monitor their children’s online activity. They recommend reporting any suspicious interactions to local law enforcement or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Those arrested include:
- Aaron Reshon Murphy, 33 — solicitation of a child by computer, dissemination of obscenity to a minor, solicitation of prostitution of a minor
- Adam Abraham Scanlan, 32 — solicitation of a child by computer
- Cody Blasiman, 24 — two counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of disseminating obscenity to a minor under 13
- Daniel Mabe, 43 — second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor
- Dawson Matthew Memmel, 21 — solicitation of a child by computer, dissemination of obscenity to a minor, attempted first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor
- Dennis Paul Corbett, 87 — two counts of solicitation of a child by computer
- Jairo Flores, 26 — 10 counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor
- James Onofrio, 61 — second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, 10 counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, carrying a concealed gun, resisting a public officer
- Jeremy Prashaw — disclose private images of an adult, 10 counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor
- John Clay Harris, 65 — dissemination of obscenity to a minor
- Michael Clark Williams, 75 — two counts of solicitation of a child by computer, two counts of attempted first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor
- Nezar Ghaleb Ghaleb, 29 — solicitation of a child by computer, solicitation by computer, indecent liberties with a child, attempted statutory rape of a child under 15, 13 counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor
- Nicholas Lee Bryson, 35 — four counts of sexual activity by a parent or custodian, fugitive charge out of Florida for sexual battery familial or custodial and lewd and lascivious molestation
- Raymond Hunter Robson, 64 — solicitation of a child by computer, dissemination of obscenity to a minor
- Salvador Galaviz, 41 — three counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor
- William Manning, 19 — four counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor
