Every one of the nine men arrested in last week’s child solicitation operation admitted to detectives they intended to meet a teenager for sex, court documents revealed.
They traveled to undisclosed Greenwood locations for a variety of agreed-upon sex acts — which they agreed to pay $20 to $150 for — knowing it was against the law, according to the court documents filed Friday in Johnson County courts.
Many of them acknowledged it would be wrong in text messages to undercover detectives, but continued the conversation and ultimately made plans to meet up with who they believed was a 14-year-old girl, court documents show.
They drove — some for more than an hour — to undisclosed locations in Greenwood to meet up with undercover detectives posed as an underage girl. It was part of a first-of-its-kind sting operation in the county, dubbed Operation Firewall. The operation was a partnership of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office and Covenant Rescue Group, an Alabama-based nonprofit that’s fighting human trafficking across the country and working with law enforcement agencies on operations such as this.
The suspects — ranging in age from 24 to 62, of varying races, from rural, suburban and urban parts of the state — represent all walks of life. There isn’t a singular job or physical description to identify them, officials said last week. Just one of them lived in Johnson County.
Detectives, with expertise and insight from Covenant Rescue Group, created fake profiles on known prostitution websites. During the chats, detectives would make clear that the girl was underage, 14 in this case. The conversations continued to turn sexual in nature, and arrangements were made for the men to meet up with the girl at two separate locations on the east and west sides of Greenwood. Once the suspects arrived at the agreed-upon location, knocked on the door and entered, they were arrested and taken into custody, according to court documents.
Detectives interviewed all of the suspects before they were booked into the jail, said Maj. Damian Katt, chief investigations deputy at the sheriff’s office.
In interviews with detectives, some were apologetic and others showed no remorse, court documents show.
They knew what they were doing was against the law, Sheriff Duane Burgess said last week. Some would pace back and forth before knocking on the door, or sit in their car for several minutes before approaching, he said.
The three-day operation, conducted from Tuesday to Thursday last week, resulted in the arrests of nine men and an Avon woman who was traveling with one of them.
Morgan Warden, 31, is charged with misdemeanor controlled substance possession after deputies found Vicodin on her. Warden told deputies she knew of Stennett’s arrangement to meet up for sex and intended to participate, but thought the subject was 19 years old, according to court documents.
Michael D. Gaiski, 62, of Morristown; John R. Dulin, 46, of Kirklin; Robert O. Bland, 29, of Indianapolis; Russell Burke, 58, of Frankfort; Fredy Berlamino Perez-Baten, 36, of Indianapolis; John David Kent, 57, of Martinsville; Preston Miles Carpenter, 24, of Greenwood; Jason M. Cleveland, 24, of Indianapolis; and Gregory M. Stennett, 37, of Avon are charged with child solicitation, a Level 4 felony.
Cleveland and Stennett are also charged with dissemination of harmful material to a minor, Cleveland for sending a nude photo of himself to an undercover detective, and Stennett for sending a nude photo and a video of himself masturbating, court documents show.
Most could face up to 12 years in prison, with a six-year advisory sentence, and could be ordered to pay up to a $10,000 fine. The two with pornography charges could face an additional 2.5 years. Some have already bonded out. All of them will be summoned to appear in court for initial hearings or they will be arrested on a warrant.
Items found on the suspects included cash, condoms, drugs, sex toys, Tito’s vodka and White Claw Hard Seltzer, according to court documents.
Explanations offered for following through with plans to meet up with a minor for sex ranged from, “I planned to use a condom,” to, “My hormones got the best of me,” court documents show.
Stennett said in a text message to the undercover detective it was “illegal to date you … but I could look past that as you’re cute as (expletive).” He told detectives he intended to do “everything” with the 14 year old, according to court documents. When asked if he were placed in front of a judge right now how he would plea, he said, “Guilty … I’m being an idiot,” court documents said.
The ultimate goal of the operation was to catch human traffickers, and local law enforcement officials plan to do more similar operations in the future, they said.
