A Gainesville man was among those arrested.
FORSYTH CO. SHERIFF’S OFFICE NEWS RELEASE:
“Last weekend, members of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, along with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Alpharetta Police Department, Forsyth County District Attorney’s Office, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security conducted Operation Masquerade focusing on individuals that prey on juveniles on-line and solicit them for sex.
During the 3-day operation, 11 individuals were arrested:
- Carlos Ortiz-Penado aka “Rafael”, 37-years-old of Gainesville charged with Computer Crime: Illegal Solicitation, Entice or Seduce a Minor and Trafficking of Persons for Labor or Sex
- Salvador Alejandro Vazquez aka “Salva”, 33-years-old of Lawrenceville charged with Child Molestation and Computer Crime: Illegal Solicitation, Entice or Seduce a Minor
- He claimed to be a missionary from Guatemala here selling bibles in the United States legally.
- Erick Rafael Garban-Ochoa, 31-years-old of Stone Mountain charged with Computer Crime: Illegal Solicitation, Entice or Seduce a Minor
- Illegal alien from Venezuela claimed he crossed the border illegally 1 month 14 days before this arrest
- Tucker Pigott, 29-years-old of Cumming charged with Illegal Solicitation, Entice or Seduce a Minor and Trafficking of Persons for Labor or Sex
- Srinath Banothu, 28-years-old of Waleska charged with Computer Crime: Illegal Solicitation, Entice or Seduce a Minor
- Cody Wood, 33-years-old of Dahlonega charged with Computer Crime: Illegal Solicitation, Entice or Seduce a Minor and Trafficking of Persons for Labor or Sex
- Israel Ibarra-Hinojosa, 30-years-old of Ringold charged with Computer Crime: Illegal Solicitation, Entice or Seduce a Minor
- Tahir Taylor, 24-years-old of Loganville charged with Computer Crime: Illegal Solicitation, Entice or Seduce a Minor
- Peter Heintz 39-years-old of Marietta charged with Computer Crime: Illegal Solicitation, Entice or Seduce a Minor and Computer Crime: Obscene Internet Contact with a Minor
- Brett DelRosso, 33-years-old of Woodstock charged with Computer Crime: Illegal Solicitation, Entice or Seduce a Minor and Hold for Cherokee County
- Michael Kinser, 29-years-old of Lilburn charged with Computer Crime: Illegal Solicitation, Entice or Seduce a Minor, Failure to Obey Traffic Control Device and Fleeing or Attempting to Elude
- In 2014 he was convicted in Florida for Traveling to Meet Minor to Commit Unlawful Sexual Offense, Use of Computer to Solicit or Lure a Child to Engage in Sexual Conduct and Send Minor Harmful Info. He was required to register as a sex offender in Florida.
Warrants are pending for the arrest of five additional individuals for the crime Obscene Internet Contact with a Minor. This is the 2nd operation of this type in Forsyth County. Operation Just Cause lead to the arrest of 24 people in 2019 for similar charges. All 24 of those have either pled or were convicted of these serious crimes.
“Endanger our children in Forsyth County and you will find out what jail and no bond looks like. I am very proud of our Internet Crimes Against Children Unit and appreciate the unwavering support of our partner agencies during this operation,” said Sheriff Ron Freeman, “Simple message here…..you want to harm a child not in Forsyth County! This is a wakeup call for all our parents. Make sure you know your child’s on-line activity. There are predators waiting to do harm if they have the opportunity. “