http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...ested-texas-child-sex-sting-article-1.2279655
Texas police busted nearly 30 men for allegedly trying to meet kids for sex — and those netted include a firefighter, school band director and state prison guard, authorities said.
The two-month undercover sting in Montgomery County, Tex., led to the arrests of 26 alleged sexual predators who prosecutors say targeted boys and girls online to exploit them for sex between April and May.
[....]
The suspects, whose ages range between 20 and 70, face felony offenses, including charges for online solicitation of a minor and possession of child pornography.
They all did more than just communicate online with people who they thought were minors — but who were actually undercover investigators, Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon said at a news conference.
"They've gotten in their vehicle, they've bought the duct tape, they've bought the condoms, they've tried to arrange a meeting place, and they've shown up at that meeting place only to be disappointed," he said.
[....]
"I think everybody kind of has in their mind what a pedophile looks like, and it's some dirty guy with long shaggy hair and fingernails," Ligon said, while pointing to photos of the perps.
"And if this board is not more of a representative cross section of what a true pedophile looks like, then you're deceiving yourself."
The takedown, called "Operation Safe Summer," was a collaboration between several local law enforcement agencies and Homeland Security to take child predators off the streets.
The others who were arrested are Ricardo Yanez-Centeno, Marcus Johnson, John Mahler, Timothy Miller, Emery Gondamovo, Adnan Shroff, Mark Ximenez, Donald Ganung, Uriel Soriano-Morales, Jerry Baty, Raymundo DeLeon Jr., Michael Daily, Lonnie White, Richard Rees, Jessie Scarborough, Mark Tipton, Juan Badillo, Alejandro Martinez, Christopher Neef, Klaus Riel, Juan Silva-Esparza, Mendell Williams and Brian Utter.