A Gwinnett County employee was among four men recently arrested in a federal sting targeting internet crimes against children.
James Daniel Stinchcomb allegedly traveled to Norcross last Friday in his county work vehicle to meet an 11-year-old girl for sex, according to prosecutors. He had actually been communicating online with an undercover federal agent, exchanging “dozens of messages” that prosecutors said described what Stinchcomb intended to do to the child during their meeting.
Stinchcomb, 34, who worked as a development inspector in Gwinnett's planning and development department, was met by FBI agents and Gwinnett County police officers. The Bethlehem man was arrested as soon as he arrived at the meetup.
According to county personnel documents previously obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Stinchcomb was hired in May 2015. He has been placed on leave with pay pending a human resources review process, Gwinnett officials told AJC.com.
Three other men were arrested over the weekslong investigation.
“During the Thanksgiving holiday, our federal and local law enforcement partners remained vigilant in an effort to identify individuals targeting minors online for unlawful sex acts,” U.S. Attorney BJay Pak said in a statement. “Those who attempt to prey on children should know that they face arrest and jail when they seek to exploit the youngest members of our community.”
FBI agents began communicating with the men online Nov. 19, posing as 10- and 11-year-old girls. Over the next few weeks, all four men allegedly described sex acts they wanted to perform on the young girls, prosecutors said.
William Sage, 32, of Sandy Springs, was the first arrested. He arranged to meet an undercover federal agent in Norcross and was taken into custody when he arrived Nov. 25.
Rolando Hernandes, 30, of Mableton, was arrested during a Nov. 27 meeting in Smyrna. A week later, on Dec. 4, Mark Hanna, 29, of Anaheim, California, was arrested when he arrived for a meeting in Norcross.
Chris Hacker, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Atlanta office, thanked the law enforcement officers who assisted in the operation as part of the agency’s Metro Atlanta Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking task force.
“The FBI will always be vigilant in pursuing those who choose to prey on our most vulnerable citizens, our children,” he said in a statement.
All four men have been indicted on federal charges of attempted enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity. Their cases are being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2016 to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.
—Staff writer Tyler Estep contributed to this article.
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