Sheriff’s Department apprehends 11th suspect in Operation Genesis

ELLIS COUNTY – The Ellis County Sheriff’s Department apprehended an eleventh suspect several days ago in its ongoing undercover operation called “Operation Genesis.” 

Several weeks ago, the Ellis County Sheriff’s Department released the names of 10 suspects recently arrested for Online Solicitation of a Minor, a 2nd Degree Felony.

At the time, there were six arrests pending, which Ellis County Sheriff Brad Norman said were “actively” being looked at, for “it is a priority for us.”

Ellis County District Attorney Ann Montgomery said regarding Project Genesis, “My office is going to work diligently on those cases going forward and hopefully as the Sheriff said send a message to those child predators don’t come to Ellis County, don’t come to Ellis County and target our most vulnerable because we will do what is necessary to protect the children of this county.” 

Of the total of 16 predators identified, Sheriff Norman said they were from all around the area.  

“These people will come from all over to try and satisfy what they are trying to accomplish,” Norman explained, adding there were two individuals from the list of 16 who were from Ellis County.

Project Genesis was so named because it was the first of its kind in Ellis County.

“We all worked together for a common goal to target, arrest and eventually convict those who commit the offense of online solicitation of a minor,” Norman said. 

“The main thing I want to stress to anybody listening is we take offense when you target our children, and we are going to aggressively target those who target our children.”

There were nine federal, state, and local agencies involved in the success of Operation Genesis and Norman concluded, “This initiative demonstrates collaboration and a unified front from multiple state and federal level law enforcement entities working together to combat human trafficking and sexual predators, who prey on innocent children.”