NEWTON, N.C. — Drone video from above and footage from the ground captured moments when SWAT teams arrested men accused of soliciting children for sex online in Catawba County.
The three-day operation involved federal, state and local law enforcement as undercover officers posed as children and parents online, authorities said.
Within four hours of going online, they made their first arrest at a home where SWAT was waiting, investigators said.
Officers went to online sites posing as underage children or as parents willing to sell their children for sexual relationships.
The suspects had no idea the person they were chatting with were undercover officers who directed them to meet up at a home in the area, investigators said.
One suspect thought he was talking to a teenage girl. Law enforcement teams were set up outside the house during a sting to capture the man.
Videos showed suspects get to homes and seconds later, deputies and others quickly swarmed in to make the arrests.
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“This is revealing to the public who these people truly are,” said Sgt. Dane Holye, Catawba County Sheriff’s Office. “That they are child predators and that they are hurting children in our communities.”
The Catawba County Sheriff’s Office stated deputies arrested 10 peopole from North Carolina and Virginia, including several from Catawba County.
One of the suspects drove over 2 hours from Blacksburg, Virginia, to Catawba County but ended up in jail.
Some of the charges included soliciting a child by a computer to commit a sex act and attempted indecent liberties with a child.
“We want these people out of our community,” Sheriff Don Brown said. “Either in jail or out of our community where they can’t victimize these children anymore. We want these people to think twice before they actually come to Catawba County to commit these crimes with these children.”
Channel 9’s Dave Faherty spoke with a mother of a two-year-old at a park Thursday in Conover.
The woman, who didn’t want to be identified, strongly supports the efforts by police.
“I think it’s sad that law enforcement has to go to that length but I’m glad they are able to if that’s what it takes to get those criminals off the street to keep our kids safe,” she said.
Investigators netted a total of 40 charges, which include soliciting a child by computer for a sex act and attempted indecent liberties with a child.
Several of the suspects remained locked up at the Catawba County Detention Center on Thursday.
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