Authorities arrested 16 people in Hall County over the weekend during a sting operation targeting people who use the internet for illegal sexual activity. The resulting arrests were for various charges, including electronic exploitation of a minor, prostitution, pandering and drug possession.
Spearheaded by the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, Operation Good Shepherd netted four arrests in January. The joint operation also involved the Floyd County and Grovetown police departments acting under the umbrella of the GBI’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.
This latest joint operation began Friday afternoon, Feb. 23, and continued into the early morning hours of Sunday, Feb. 25.
Suspects and charges
According to HCSO, 17 suspects traveled to a location in Hall County for the purpose of illegal sexual encounters during that time frame. Sixteen were arrested; one suspect fled from the scene and remains at large. Authorities are still looking for Brandon McDaniel-Waddell, 29, of Winder. HCSO says he is wanted on a charge of sexual exploitation of a minor.
Of those arrested, four were charged with felony electronic exploitation of a minor after believing they would be meeting with a victim under the age of 16 for the purpose of having sex. Eight suspects were charged with prostitution and four were charged with pandering.
Those arrested as part of Operation Good Shepherd, along with their charges, are listed here alphabetically:
- Kimberly Rene Banks, 55, Decatur, GA
Prostitution - Tegra Eishell Butler, 34, Elberton, GA
Prostitution - Steve Ray Dotson, 34, Highlands, NC
Pandering - Rene Gamara, 44, Bonaire, GA
Electronic exploitation of a minor (felony) - Staveona Monnay Harris, 22, Gainesville, GA
Prostitution - Andrei Konapliannik, 35, Decatur, GA
Pandering - Jerry Mansili, 34, Gainesville, GA
Electronic exploitation of a minor (felony) - Donald Jay McCurry, 57, Commerce, GA
Electronic exploitation of a minor (felony) - Trashawna Shanay Melvin, 32, Fairburn, GA
Prostitution, possession of MDMA (felony), possession of less than an ounce of marijuana - Bartie Musa, 31, Duluth, GA
Pandering - Antonio Orofino, 49, Snellville, GA
Electronic exploitation of a minor (felony) - Frank Lee Sewell, 36, Nicholson, GA
Prostitution, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana - Matthew Tyler Harvey Shelley, 32, Commerce, GA
Pandering - Tamara Ann Turk, 40, Cleveland, GA
Prostitution, possession of methamphetamine (felony), possession of less than an ounce of marijuana - LaPaige Nicole Ware, 30, Gainesville, GA
Prostitution - Cora Watts, 49, Norcross, GA
Prostitution
