Marietta Police Conclude Online Child Sex Sting

NORTHEAST COBB, GA -- Marietta police have concluded an investigation involving online predators, the department said Thursday. Fifteen people have been arrested since October in the wide-ranging probe that rounded up metro Atlantans and other people from as far away as Oregon.

Authorities said the suspects solicited boys and girls, or people who they thought were boys and girls, for sex. SIGN UP: To get notified of more local news like this, click here to sign up for the Northeast Patch. Or find your Atlanta-area town here. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.

Marietta authorities also have been taking part in “Operation Spring Cleaning,” the Georgia Bureau of Investigation sting targeting online predators in Gwinnett County in April. In that operation, 23 people were arrested over a five-day period. They are facing with multiple charges, including violating the Computer or Electronic Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 2007.

An April 24 news release from the GBI said that sting targeted "those that are willing to exploit children by purchasing sex with a minor. On-line child predators visit chat rooms and websites on the internet, find children, begin conversations with them, introduce sexual content and arrange a meeting with the children for the purpose of having sex."

Below is a list of those caught up in the sting and arrested by Marietta authorities:

1. Terry Crawford, 58 year old male from Pine Mountain GA
2. Johnny Crittenden, 57 year old male from Jonesboro GA
3. Jose Barrera, 20 year old male from Kennesaw GA
4. Justin Jones, 42 year old male from Marietta GA
5. Nikolas Sims, 23 year old male from Conyers GA
6. Stephen Cook, 59 year old male from Grayson GA
7. James Lumpkin, 46 year old male from Marietta GA
8. Christopher Braden, 38 year old male from Jasper AL
9. Noe Verdugo, 36 year old male from Atlanta GA
10. James Conner, 45 year old male from Monroe GA
11. Thornton Barrow, 54 year old male from Central SC
12. David Butterworth, 40 year old male from Flowery Branch GA
13. Justin Clark, 31 year old male from Hines OR
14. Mitchell Walters, 28 year old male from Cumming GA
15. Keith Grogan, 44 year old male from Graycourt SC

The Marietta PD is taking this time to warn parents about online predators and how they can reach children on the Internet. "The problem is that most parents don’t realize just how vulnerable their children are anytime they are on a WiFi or data enabled device," the police force said in an online advisory Thursday.

"Parents need to recognize that the predators they used to worry about loitering on a playground now hangout in the apps their kids use on their phones, tablets and other electronic devices."

Image via Facebook / Marietta PD