Nine arrested in Wetumpka undercover child exploitation operation
Nine men are now in custody following a multi-day operation targeting child exploitation./Courtesy: Elmore County Jail
Nine men are now in custody following an undercover operation targeting child exploitation.
Maj. Josh Barfoot with the Wetumpka Police Department tells Action 8 News that his department, in partnership with the Covenant Rescue Group and several other agencies, arrested the suspects in the multi-day operation.
Maj. Barfoot says the arrests came after the suspects engaged in online communications with individuals that they believed to be minors.
Upon arranging to meet for illicit purposes, they were taken into custody by law enforcement officers.
The suspects arrested are:
- 32-year-old Whitley J. Brown, of Montgomery
- 19-year-old Contravious J. Jackson, of Elmore
- 28-year-old Miguel Tello Lugo, of Opelika
- 31-year-old Tyrone Dabney, of Montgomery
- 40-year-old Jacarlo Abner, of Montgomery
- 27-year-old Ryan David Wilson, of Atlanta, GA
- 35-year-old Demario Nicholson, of Pine Hill
- 35-year-old Errick B. Smith, of Montgomery
- 37-year-old Willie N. Watts, of Montgomery
Each of the suspects are charged with Human Trafficking, Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act and Electronic Solicitation of a Child.
All of the suspects are in the Elmore County Jail with no bond.
If you have information related to child exploitation, please report it immediately to local law enforcement or call the Wetumpka Police Department at 334-567-5321.
Along with the Wetumpka Police Department, the Elmore County District Attorney’s Office, the Autauga County Sheriff’s Office and the Eclectic Police Department assisted in the operation.
