16 in North Carolina arrested for child sex crimes after online sting

WSOCTV.com News Staff
·2 min read
1

Sixteen people from across the state were arrested for child sex crime charges after an online sting, authorities said on Friday.

Some of them were arrested in Gaston County.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation reported the arrests as part of “Operation Winter Guardian,” which took place in January.

Authorities say investigators would work undercover and participate in chats with people “seeking to meet juveniles for sexual activity.” After that, the SBI said “some of those individuals then traveled to a location in Gaston County to meet the person they believed to be a child to engage in those sex acts.”

ALSO READ: Fugitive Finders: US Marshals team with local officers to catch wanted criminals in the Carolinas

Investigators were also able to find “distribution points where child sexual exploitation images were shared,” and they got search warrants for those locations.

In total, 16 people were charged, including the following.

  • Gabriel John Yager of Apex - 2nd degree sexual exploitation of a minor (seven counts)

  • Hunter Ray Fesperman of Hertford - 2nd degree sexual exploitation of a minor (four counts)

  • Larry Ray Haskins of Lenoir -2nd degree sexual exploitation of a minor (one count)

  • Jubonte Stevenson of New Bern -1st degree statutory sex offense (one count)

  • Jonathan Paul Swiney of Asheboro - 2nd degree child sexual exploitation of a minor (one count)

  • Scott Thomas Wallace of Wilmington - 3rd degree sexual exploitation of a minor (three counts)

  • Johnathan Cody McCall of Swansboro -2nd degree sexual exploitation of a minor (10 counts), 3rd degree sexual exploitation of a minor (10 counts)

  • Jamie Tucker of Louisburg - 2nd degree sexual exploitation of a minor (six counts), Secret peeping (two counts), Manufacture schedule VI (one count), PWISD marijuana (one count), Maintaining/Vehicle/Dwelling/Place (one count)

  • Nicholas Tyler Banks of Burnsville - 2nd degree sexual exploitation of a minor (one count), Failure to inform of new online identifier (one count), 3rd degree sexual exploitation of a minor (one count)

  • Darryl Edwin Foley of Garner - 1st degree sexual exploitation of a minor (7 counts), 2nd degree sexual exploitation of a minor (10 counts), Statutory sex offense with a child by an adult (3 counts), 1st degree statutory rape (2 counts)

  • Carmen Delia Foley of Garner - 1st degree sexual exploitation of a minor (13 counts), Statutory sexual offense with a child by an adult (2 counts), Aid and Abetting 1st degree statutory rape (2 counts)

  • Lance Skipper of Zebulon - 2nd degree sexual exploitation of a minor (one count)

  • Barry Glenn Swinson of Randleman - Indecent liberties (one count), Solicitation of a child by computer for sex act (one count)

  • David Anthony Roux of Charlotte - Indecent liberties (one count)

  • Neal David Wilfong of Cleveland - Indecent liberties (two counts)

  • Zachary Dean Williams of Wadesboro - Indecent liberties (one count), Solicitation of a child by computer for sex act (one count)

Police said at least five children were “identified and safeguarded from ongoing sexual abuse.”

The SBI said the task force utilized the help of numerous police departments, in addition to the U.S. Marshals Service to make the arrests.

(WATCH: Burke County man charged with three counts of exploitation of a minor, deputies say)