Columbia County authorities have released arrest photos of the six men charged after traveling to meet what they believed was a child during a four-day undercover operation targeting suspected online predators in the CSRA.
The newly released mugshots show the men arrested during “Operation Fourth Take,” a joint operation conducted Sept. 24 through Sept. 27 by the Grovetown Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
The suspects arrested were identified as Hitesh Chhabria, 42, of Augusta; Milliken Watson, 53, of Edgefield, South Carolina; Christopher Stone, 59, of Augusta; Luis Moreno, 27, of Millen; Wenjian Chen, 25, of Augusta; and Ryan Hanlon, 37, of Clarksville, Tennessee.
Each was charged with trafficking of persons for sexual servitude and booked into the Columbia County Detention Center without bond, according to Grovetown police.
Two of the six suspects allegedly arrived at the meeting locations with firearms.
The release of the mugshots comes as Grovetown Police Chief Jamey Kitchens took to social media to clarify that none of the men arrested lives in Grovetown.
“None of the individuals arrested are from Grovetown,” Kitchens said on The Jail Report’s Facebook page.
According to the chief, two of the suspects are from South Carolina, three are from Augusta and one is from Tennessee. Kitchens said the Tennessee suspect was in the area for training at Fort Gordon.
Kitchens also stressed that the operation was not designed to target residents of any particular city or community.
“These operations are not conducted to target any one area,” Kitchens said. “We had people travel from 2.5 hours away during our last operation.”
Kitchens said the investigation demonstrates that suspected online predators can come from communities well beyond the immediate area.
“Sadly, these sick perverts are everywhere,” he said. “And we’re doing all we can to get them.”
During the operation, undercover investigators said they communicated online and through cellular applications with more than 1,400 people.
More than 150 verified adults allegedly expressed a desire to meet for sexual activity after communicating with someone they believed was a child.
Investigators said 54 of those individuals indicated they wanted to travel to meet the purported child, despite being told repeatedly that they were communicating with a child. Several allegedly offered money in exchange for sex.
About 25 of those individuals indicated they were willing to travel to meeting locations arranged by investigators.
Six ultimately followed through and traveled to the locations, where they were met by Grovetown police officers and investigators from assisting agencies rather than a child.
The investigation also generated more than 18,000 communications with people who believed they were communicating with a child, according to police. Investigators said those communications included obscene material and photographs.
The six arrests are not expected to be the end of the investigation.
Police said 15 additional people have been identified for further investigation, with arrests on various charges potentially forthcoming.
The operation involved the Grovetown Police Department, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Army Criminal Investigation Division, Cartersville Police Department, Columbia County District Attorney’s Office, Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, Hall County Sheriff’s Office, Department of Community Supervision, Augusta University Police Department and Woodstock Police Department.
The Grovetown Police Department said it will continue working with the GBI’s ICAC Task Force to investigate people suspected of attempting to sexually exploit children online.
