Child predator sting nets 20 suspects in north Georgia

CARTERSVILLE, Georgia (WDEF) – The GBI announces results of an undercover investigation in Bartow County.

The weekend operation went online offering to arrange a child for sex.

They communicated with 30 people who qualified for arrest.

Twenty of them drove to Bartow County and were arrested.

Only one was a registered sex offender.

It took months of planning and a dozen law enforcement agencies to pull off “Operation Paladin.”

The arrests included suspects from Trion and Summerville.

The following were arrested and charged in Bartow County as part of “Operation Paladin”:

Randall Ball, W/M, Acworth, GA, 25 years of age, grocery stocker

Bailey Brown, W/M, Jasper, GA, 29 years of age, emergency home repair responder

Richard Brown, W/M, Trion, GA, 53 years of age, mill worker

Steven Byers, W/M, Jasper, GA, 33 years of age, electrician

Bryan Cain, W/M, Calhoun, GA, 36 years of age, unemployed/college student

Jeffrey Coleman, W/M, Cartersville, GA, 52 years of age, glass technician

Michael Crider, W/M, Cartersville, GA, 51 years of age, CAD operator

Daniel Dorough, W/M, Cartersville, GA, 56 years of age, self-employed landscaper

Daniel Ewart, W/M, Cartersville. GA, 38 years of age, tow truck driver

Shawn Jeffrey, B/M, Powder Springs, GA, 26 years of age, pest control technician

Clarence Mann, W/M, Kingston, GA, 59 years of age, truck driver

Vernale Mascall, B/M, Cartersville, GA, 25 years of age, fast food worker

Rick Paul, B/M, Dallas, GA, 25 years of age, Certified Nursing Assistant

Isaac Sanchez, H/M, Summerville, GA, 20 years of age, painter

Charlie Smith III, W/M, Cartersville, GA, 45 years of age, patient care technician

Thomas Smith, B/M, Rome, GA, 43 years of age, delivery driver

Timothy Smith, W/M, Cartersville, GA, 57 years of age, customer service

Conner Thrash, W/M, Woodstock, GA, 28 years of age, truck driver

Michael Turner, W/M, Villa Rica, GA, 37 years of age, unemployed

Michael Wills, W/M, Cartersville, GA, 34 years of age, tree service employee