McMahon
A Fairland man was convicted of child solicitation following a bench trial last week.
Matthew McMahon, 37, was convicted of child solicitation as a Level 4 felony on Thursday.
Magistrate Judge Brandi Foster Kirkendall found him guilty of that charge and he additionally pleaded guilty to a habitual offender enhancement. With that enhancement, he faces a total of 8 to 32 years at sentencing, which is set for Dec. 4, according to a news release from the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office.
McMahon was arrested on April 19, 2023, as part of a multi-agency child solicitation sting conducted in Johnson County. The sheriff’s office, along with the Franklin and Edinburgh police departments, made a total of 32 arrests during the three-day sting.
McMahon solicited sex and other sexual acts from an undercover detective that he believed to be a 15-year-old female. He also has a prior Boone County conviction from 2013 for sexual misconduct with a minor, a B Felony.
The operation took place at a property on the 300 block of E. County Line Road in Greenwood, and men traveled from as far as Tennessee before being arrested by police. The 32 men, whose ages ranged from 21 to 62, were arrested on charges ranging from child solicitation to making unlawful propositions to drug possession charges. Collectively, the men were arrested on 61 total charges, according to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.
Since local law enforcement began conducting solicitation operations in 2020, a total of 127 people have been arrested.
The number arrested has steadily increased over the last four years, with variations:
- December 2020: 10 arrested
- April 2021: Eight arrested
- May 2022: 11 arrested
- November 2022: 20 arrested
- April 2023: 32 arrested
- September 2024: 22 arrested.
Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner lauded the sting operations and his team for bringing their work across the finish line with this conviction.
“Here is yet another sexual criminal coming to our county trying to prey on our kids. He’s now facing decades in a steel cage for that deviant behavior. I would like to thank the outstanding work by our sheriff’s office and police departments in catching these sexual predators and keeping our kids safe from them,” Hamner said in a statement.
“I would also like to thank Deputy Prosecutor Brianna Acker for her hard work and effort in proving this case in court beyond a reasonable doubt. Keeping our kids safe: this is how it’s done.”
