10 SUSPECTS ARRESTED FOR ‘ONLINE SOLICITATION OF A MINOR’

ELLIS COUNTY – The Ellis County Sheriff’s Department released the names of 10 suspects who were recently arrested for “Online Solicitation of a Minor.”

There are also six arrests pending, which Ellis County Sheriff Brad Norman said are being “actively” looked for. “It is a priority for us” he said.

Online Solicitation of a Minor is a 2nd Degree Felony.

The arrests were part of the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office, Criminal Investigations Division, undercover operation called “Operation Genesis.” 

At a press conference Friday, May 28, Ellis County District Attorney Ann Montgomery said regarding Project Genesis, the project was so named, “Because it was the first of its kind in Ellis County.”

Punishment for this charges ranges from two to 20 years in the state of Texas. 

There were nine federal, state, and local agencies involved. 

“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 that is listening is we take offense when you target our children, and we are going to aggressively target those who target our children.”

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.

“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 and target our most vulnerable, because we will do what is necessary to protect the children of this county,” Montgomery added.

Project Genesis was the joint effort – a first for Ellis County - seeking out predators who prey on children, which was one of the incoming Sheriff’s objective when running for his seat during the last election.  

Sheriff Norman praised the hard work and dedication from the Ellis County Sheriff’s Department who sought to catch these child predators. 

Waxahachie Police Chief Wade Goolsby also spoke and said, “The threat out there is real, you need to protect your children, and we will do whatever it takes to get those individuals off the streets, off the computers and away from our children, and I can’t stress enough for people to be aware of what their children are doing on their computers, on their phones, who they are talking to, who they are chatting with –  because these people are out there.”

The Sheriff also gave appreciation to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Homeland Security, the Midlothian Police Department, the Waxahachie Police Department, the Collin County Sheriff’s Office, the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, the Department of Family and Protective Services – Ellis County (CPS), the Ellis County Children’s Advocacy Center, and the Ellis County & District Attorney’s Office. 

“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,” Norman concluded.