Twenty North Texas men are facing charges after being accused of having explicit online conversations with children in an attempt to lure them into having sex, according to the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office.
During a joint law enforcement operation, the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office arrested 13 men between Sept. 18-20 -- all of them, police said, were trying to arrange meetings with children with the intent of having sexual intercourse.
Officials released the names of the following 13 arrested and charged -- it is not clear if any have obtained an attorney to speak on their behalf.
•Ronald Leroy Moore, 71
•Cole Russell Maxfield, 20
•Eliecer Aguayo Salgado, 29
•Christopher Eric Dawson, 36
•Earnest Lee Maxwell, 53
•David Oliver Clayton, 26
•Taylor Alden Wobig, 33
•Troy Palmer Stallsworth, 25
•Bobby Ray Hendricks II, 45
•Bahaa Abi Hussein, 29
•Luis Miguel Hernandez, 33
•Antonio Zamora, 48
•Leonardo Lopez-Castillo, 29
In addition to the 13 arrested and charged, warrants are being obtained for another seven individuals who police said were engaged in the same behavior.
Officials said the men believed they were communicating online with children under the age of 17 but they were actually talking to law enforcement.
"In Tarrant County, we have a zero tolerance for predators coming after our children," said Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn, in a statement. "We will always be vigorously alert and watching for them."
The Tarrant County Sheriff's Office's Human Trafficking Unit worked with Tarrant County Constable’s Office-Precinct 3, Fort Worth Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety in the joint operation.
Since March 2017, the TCSO's Human Trafficking Unit has made 121 arrests in Tarrant County, 29 of which were for online solicitation of a minor. Nine of those arrests were for human trafficking.
