Police: Georgia sex sting nets 8 arrests for prostitution, 2 for sexual exploitation of a child
HALL COUNTY, Ga. - Law enforcement officers have arrested 10 people in Hall County after an undercover sex sting.
Officials tell FOX 5 the arrests happened on Friday after officers with the Vice Task Force, Hall County Sheriff's Office, and Georgia Bureau of Investigation finished the undercover crimes against children and pandering sting operation around the north Hall area.
In each case, officials say the suspects are believed to have been in communication with what they thought was either an adult prostitute or a child victim.
The ages of the suspect ranged from 22 to 54 with one suspect being a resident of Alaska.
Police arrested eight men on charges of pandering. (Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad Gang Task Force)
The following suspects are accused of soliciting an adult for the act of prostitution:
- 36-year-old Charlton Scott Thompson of Oakwood, Georgia,
- 31-year-old Israel Antonio Sanchez of Gainesville, Georgia,
- 36-year-old Edward James Hodges of Oakwood,
- 54-year-old Ricky Edwin Nix of Oakwood,
- 51-year-old Owen D. Canfield of Crossett, Alaska,
- 27-year-old Chad Andrew Weaver of Clermont, Georgia,
- 25-year-old Jack William Rosa of Winder, Georgia.
Officials say the two men are accused of committing crimes with who they thought were child victims. (Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad Gang Task Force)
The two remaining suspects, 26-year-old Joseph Martin Materne of Watkinsville and 22-year-old Robert Dean Martin of Gainesville, were respectively charged with sexual exploitation of a child and criminal attempt to commit child molestation.
Officials do not anticipate any further arrests in the investigation.
UPDATE: Charges against Charlton Scott Thompson were dismissed on June 4, 2020 after completion of a pre-trial diversion program through the Hall County Solicitor's Office.