Two dozen people will be prosecuted in connection with sex crimes against children after a massive sting operation, according to the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office.
A grand jury indicted 24 people who investigators said were trying to solicit minors for sex.
The charges stem from a five-day undercover operation that started Jan. 30 and lasted through Super Bowl weekend, the district attorney’s office said. “Operation Interception” was coordinated by the GBI in partnership with the U.S. Marshals Service and local law enforcement agencies across multiple counties.
Officials from the FBI previously said 169 people were arrested in a human trafficking investigation in the 11 days leading up to the Super Bowl.
RELATED: FBI: 169 arrested in human trafficking investigation leading up to Super Bowl
According to investigators, the 24 people indicted in DeKalb contacted someone they believed was a 14-year-old online. In reality, undercover officers were posing as the teen, the DeKalb district attorney said.
The men, who range in age from 20 to 55, started sexually explicit conversations and sent obscene photographs to the undercover detective. Several of them traveled to Brookhaven to meet the 14-year-old for sex. When they arrived at the meeting location, they were confronted by the undercover agent and arrested, the district attorney said.
The accused men and their charges are:
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