Law enforcement arrested 21 people as part of a three-day child solicitation sting in Greenwood, officials revealed Friday.
Members of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, Bargersville Police Department, Edinburgh Police Department, Franklin Police Department, Greenfield Police Department and the U.S. Secret Service conducted a three-day sting operation from Tuesday to Thursday. Men from as far as West Virginia were arrested during the sixth sting operation of its kind conducted by local law enforcement.
The sting began to be orchestrated several months ago, resulting in the individual coming to meet what they believed to be a 14 or 15-year-old child at a home on the 300 block of East County Line Road in Greenwood, according to a Johnson County Sheriff’s Office news release.
A large number of the 21 men arrested are from Indianapolis, though men from Carmel, Westfield and Terre Haute were also arrested. One 52-year-old man, Harold C. Davis Jr., was from Parkersburg, West Virginia.
Locally, men from Bargersville and Greenwood were arrested. While the 21 men have been arrested, they have not yet been formally charged.
Also arrested during the sting was an Indianapolis firefighter. Carl D. Wemple, 45, of New Palestine was arrested on a charge of child solicitation.
Wemple, a 17-year veteran of the Indianapolis Fire Department, was off duty at the time of his arrest. He has been indefinitely suspended without pay pending the outcome of his legal case, the agency said in a media advisory.
This operation followed the format of the five previous operations, with the most recent one occurring in April. Thirty-two people were arrested in that operation.
Including this week’s operation, 100 people have been arrested in the stings since they began in 2019, the news release says.
”The involved agencies work extremely hard to protect the children of Johnson County,” Johnson County Sheriff Duane Burgess said in the news release. “The internet sites that are used by these individuals to have sexual relations with juveniles are very disturbing. As the sheriff of Johnson County, I would also say it’s quite common that offenders in these type of cases have explored these sites, met, or tried to meet an underage child for sexual gratification on prior occasions.”
Edinburgh Police Chief Doyne Little works on these projects to allow children to “enjoy their childhood innocence while we, the police, shield them from the evil of child predators,” he said in a statement.
“Together, we are dedicated to protecting our youth and our community from these ruthless predators,” Franklin Police Chief Cochran added.
Local law enforcement also frequently work with outside agencies during this operation. The Secret Service became involved after they wanted to assist. If there were to be federal charges, the agency could investigate and send information to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Burgess said in an interview Friday.
Greenfield Police sent a detective to observe, take part and gather information about how Johnson County’s operations work to take back to their agency, he said.
“Hopefully they’ll take what they were shown and they’ll do what we’re doing,” Burgess said. “People need to pay attention to it. We never know what folks are gonna do. This is something proactive that we can do. This is occurring everywhere.”
Burgess says these types of investigations will continue as long as he is sheriff. The only way to protect county citizens is to be proactive, think outside the box and have a prosecutor who is “willing to go the extra mile,” he said.
“We are fortunate to have that with our Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner and his staff,” Burgess said in the news release.
The people of Johnson County should also be very proud of the men and women who put on a uniform and a badge to protect them every day, Burgess said.
“I know that we have the best law enforcement officers who truly care about what happens in Johnson County,” he said.
SUSPECTS, CHARGES
Here’s who was arrested as part of a multi-agency sex sting operation this week:
Harold C. Davis Jr., 52, of Parkersburg, West Virginia; arrested for child solicitation.
David R. Dickinson, 65, of Greenwood; arrested for child solicitation.
Miguel Angel Flores Garcia, 27, of Indianapolis; arrested for child solicitation, wanted on a Shelby County warrant.
Darrel L. Hutchings Jr., 46, of Southport; arrested for child solicitation, dissemination of harmful matter (p*rnography), making an unlawful proposition.
Ivan Cabrel Kamgain Tayou, 21, of Indianapolis; arrested on three counts of dissemination of harmful matter (p*rnography).
Za Mang, 29, of Indianapolis; arrested for child solicitation.
Rudy Joel Matute Cabrera, 21, of Indianapolis; arrested for child solicitation.
Brandon E. McClintic, 46, of Bargersville; arrested on charges of child solicitation, making an unlawful proposition, operating a vehicle while never having received a license.
Scott Douglas Merrill, 57, of Westfield; arrested for child solicitation.
Mario Ramirez Godinez, 52, of Thorntown; arrested for child solicitation.
Mark Timothy Reyher, 46, of Terre Haute; arrested for child solicitation.
Mark Robert Rouleau, 52, of Indianapolis; arrested on a charge of child solicitation; released on $6,600 bond.
Omar Morales Sabino, 30, of Indianapolis; arrested for child solicitation.
Naim IBN Salaam, 24, of Indianapolis; arrested for child solicitation.
Davinder Singh Saini, 64, of Indianapolis; arrested for child solicitation.
Jose Anselmo Sanic Lopez, 25, of Indianapolis; arrested on charges of child solicitation, dissemination of harmful matter (p*rnography), possession of paraphernalia, possession of methamphetamine.
Brad T. Schwenzer, 45, of Bargersville; arrested for child solicitation.
Manish Sharma, 38, of Carmel; arrested on charges of child solicitation, making an unlawful proposition.
Roger Lee Stephens, 57, of Indianapolis; arrested on charges of child solicitation, dissemination of harmful matter (p*rnography).
Marcelo Ruiz Villegas, 27, of Indianapolis; arrested for child solicitation.
Carl Deveier Wemple, 45, of New Palestine; arrested for child solicitation.
Source: Johnson County Sheriff’s Office
