RINCON, Ga. -- An online sting in Georgia to catch child predators over the summer months has successfully led to the arrest of 40 men from around Georgia and parts of South Carolina.
NBC affiliate WSAV reports that a mission by the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office to apprehend these offenders with help from Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) agents led to the arrests.
Investigators said that the men, 39 of which still face charges, were all looking for sex with underage teens by way of the internet.
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Child exploitation arrests in east Ga.
Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie said that some were soliciting sex with those who they believed were 14 and 15-year-old girls and boys.
They traveled from as far away as Habersham County, Ga. in an attempt to meet with their victims and one, investigators said, even came with alcohol and a loaded weapon.
Greg Jackson, WSAV reported, had a child in the back seat when he arrived.
Luckily where they expected to find a victim, these men found local law enforcement ready to take them to jail where they could spend the next 30 to 40 years if convicted.
As for the sting, dubbed Operation Summer Heat, McDuffie says it will continue.
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