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Police arrested 21 men for child sex solicitation after a three-day sting operation in Johnson County.
The operation took place November 28-30 at the 300 block of East County Line Road in Greenwood. It was led by the Johnson County Sheriff's Office and several other police departments, including Bargersville Police Department, Edinburgh Police Department, Greenfield Police Department and Franklin Police Department.
Damian Katt, the Investigations Commander for Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, said the men were arrested when they came to meet with who they believed to be a 14 or 15 year old child.
“A lot of these people you'd never guess, they live what appears to be a normal life to most people and neighbors and family members,” he said.
Officers began conducting the sting several months before the arrests, following the format of previous operations.
Since law enforcement began the child solicitation stings in 2019, they have arrested 100 people from six different stings. A previous operation in April led to the arrest of 32 other people.
Katt said the first operation was successful, but they quickly realized they would need more people involved. The sheriff’s office reached out to other law enforcement agencies for help with the stings.
In a press release, the Franklin Chief of Police, Kirby Cochran said, “together, we are dedicated to protecting our youth and our community from these ruthless predators.”
Katt said law enforcement will continue these operations to protect Johnson County’s children.
“As long as we're successful in doing this we're going to continue to do it,” he said.
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