Collin County authorities arrest 15 men, including Fort Worth reverend, for soliciting minors online
COLLIN COUNTY, Texas - Law enforcement officials arrested 15 men in Collin County suspected of preying upon children online. One of those men was an associate rector at a Fort Worth church.
The Collin County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrests Wednesday as part of Operation Home Alone.
The men who were arrested live all over North Texas, but investigators say they went to Collin County to meet up with who they thought were minors. It turned out to be undercover investigators.
The suspects include 10 men who were charged with online solicitation of a minor. They are Gregory Joseph Jr., Lee Mourning, Benjamin Renfro, Jerrold Allen, Kenneth Rodriguez, Brent Allen, Jason Myers, Oscar Rosas Martinez, Vishal Mishra, and Michael Salyer.
Trinity Episcopal Church in Fort Worth confirmed one of the men arrested was an associate rector at the church. Rev. Jason Myers was suspended after he was arrested on Thursday, according to a letter from the church to its members. The church said it does not have a reason to believe that anyone in the congregation was harmed but asked anyone with information to reach out to the church and law enforcement.
Five additional men face charges for soliciting a prostitute under the age of 18. They include Michael Chattin, Isaias Torres-Loera, Sean Mankin, Matthew McGee, and Isai De Los Santos Guijarro.
Operation Home Alone was a three-day undercover operation conducted by Collin County sheriff’s deputies, Plano police, Dallas police and Texas DPS. Investigators within the Child Exploitation Unit went undercover online.
Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner says the men traveled to Collin County to meet up at undisclosed locations to have sex with minors. Instead, they were arrested.
"And then there were a number of days in which our ghost unit had to track down these individuals to capture them," he said. "In fact, one individual tried to evade arrest and crashed his car into a vehicle occupied by a deputy U.S. marshal. These are dangerous people."
During the operation, investigators seized a large number of electronic devices that the sheriff’s office said the suspects used to commit their crimes.
"This should serve as a reminder to parents of the dangers of online communications, cell phones, gaming devices and computers; those are the hunting grounds," the sheriff said.
Sheriff Skinner says the operation is ongoing. He assures investigators are constantly looking online for people who prey on children.
"Please understand and know what your children are doing with these devices. It’s extraordinarily dangerous," he said.
The suspects could face additional charges once their devices undergo a forensic examination.
Drugs and two firearms were also seized in the investigation.
