A total of 10 potential child predators are under arrest, after the York County Sheriff’s Office conducted a significant child sex sting operation in South Carolina and Charlotte, NC.
The operation is code named Vigilant Shepherd and is meant to track people down who were allegedly targeting children online for sex. The FBI, Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service, and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation helped with the operation.
Undercover officers used different social media apps to communicate with the suspects.
All 10 men are charged with child sex offenses, most of them thought they were talking to a child online. Some of the suspects even thought they were meeting a child between 11 and 14 years old, in York County, SC for sex. At any given time, there were 25-40 officers, analyst, and additional staff members working diligently during this operation.
The 10 men arrested through this operation include a now former associate professor of Davidson College.
Davidson college says 38-year-old Michael Bovino of Mooresville, NC was “placed on leave and barred from campus immediately following the arrest.”
The other nine men are 35-year-old trucking professional Ballam Alexander of Charlotte, NC, 23-year-old Marine corporal of Wapakoneta, OH Alexander Bowersock.
29-year-old electrician Jerry George of Boiling Springs, SC, 51-year-old retiree Steven Loflin Sr. of Greensboro, NC.
34-year-old Aaron Snyder of Lake Wylie, SC, 29-year-old suit salesman Albert Cortes of Huntersville, NC, 32-year-old construction worker Jonathan Hartsell of Charlotte, NC.
22-year-old security guard Quentin Evans of Indian Trail, NC, and 44-year-old salesman Xanthus Murdaugh of Rock Hill, SC.
This investigation is not over. The sheriff says officers and deputies are still working to identify seven victims, and he says there will also be more arrests coming in the next few days and weeks.
