Booking photos for four men arrested during an online child predator operation in Hall County. (Credit: Hall County Sheriff’s Office)
HALL COUNTY, Ga. – Four North Georgia men face felony charges after an undercover online predator operation in south Hall County over the weekend, according to law enforcement officials.
What we know:
Investigators with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, supported by the Floyd County Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, conducted Operation Vigilant from Friday, Aug. 21, to Saturday, Aug. 22.
Undercover officers posed as juveniles online, where the four suspects arranged meetings and offered cash for sexual encounters.
Law enforcement officers took all four men into custody without incident at public locations throughout south Hall County.
Officers arrested 42-year-old Bobby L. Burrell-Whitfield of Gainesville Friday evening and charged him with felony electronic exploitation of a minor.
Early Saturday morning, deputies arrested 34-year-old Fredtriel Locklin of Bethlehem.
Later Saturday afternoon, officers picked up 57-year-old Jose Donneys-Rendon of Lawrenceville and 34-year-old Neville Warren Mercado-Nieves of Talmo at separate locations.
Locklin, Donneys-Rendon and Mercado-Nieves each face felony counts of trafficking a person for labor or sexual servitude and electronic exploitation of a minor.
Deputies booked all four suspects into the Hall County Jail.
What we don’t know:
Authorities have not released the specific public locations where the individual arrests occurred. Official records do not list bond amounts or initial court dates for the four men.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, who detailed the arrests in an official release.
