“Operation Nightfall” targets online child predators, leads to 7 arrests in Chatham County

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Seven people were arrested following a proactive online undercover child exploitation investigation coordinated by the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Savannah Police Department.

The following people were arrested and charged beginning Friday April 12, 2024:

• Utkarshkumar Bhanuprasad Trivedi, age 50, of Savannah, Georgia, occupation: unemployed; charged with Computer or Electronic Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention, Child Molestation (Criminal Attempt), Child Molestation (Transmission of Images), Aggravated Child Molestation (Criminal Attempt).
• Lancaster Graham Jr., age 38, of Garden City, Georgia, occupation: hospital employee; charged with Computer or Electronic Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention, Child Molestation (Criminal Attempt), Enticing a Child for Indecent Purposes.
• Ronald Richard Alt Jr., age 31, of Savannah, Georgia, occupation: unemployed; charged with Computer or Electronic Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention, Child Molestation (Criminal Attempt).
• Henry London Taylor III, age 59, of Savannah, Georgia, occupation: sales manager for auto dealership; charged with: Computer or Electronic Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention, Child Molestation (Criminal Attempt), Enticing a Child for Indecent Purposes, Aggravated Child Molestation (Criminal Attempt), Possession of Cocaine.
• Clifton Edward Newman, age 33, of Savannah, Georgia, occupation: unknown; charged with: Computer or Electronic Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention, Child Molestation (Criminal Attempt), Aggravated Child Molestation (Criminal Attempt).
• Bobby Edward Crews-Couch Jr., age 41, of Pooler, Georgia, occupation: dialysis technician; Charged with: Computer or Electronic Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention, Child Molestation (Criminal Attempt), Enticing a Child for Indecent Purposes, Aggravated Child Molestation (Criminal Attempt), Possession of Firearm During Felony.
• Anthony Bernard Simmons, age 39, of Savannah, Georgia, occupation: unknown; charged with Computer or Electronic Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Child Molestation (Criminal Attempt), Enticing a Child for Indecent Purposes.

Additional charges and arrests may follow.

“Operation Nightfall” took several months of planning and involved the collaboration of 12 law enforcement agencies. The arrestees, ranging in age from 31-59, traveled from areas around Chatham County, Georgia, with the intent to meet a child and engage in a sex act. GBI digital forensic investigators were on hand at the operation to forensically process 10 electronic devices that were seized as evidence during the operation.

The goal of “Operation Nightfall” was to identify people who engage in sexually explicit communication with children on the Internet, arrange to engage in a sex act with the child, and then travel to meet the child for the purpose of a sex act. Online child predators visit chat rooms and websites on the Internet, find children, begin conversations with them, introduce sexual content, and arrange a meeting with the children for the purpose of having sex. These predators target both boys and girls.

During “Operation Nightfall,” undercover investigators had more than 265 exchanges with people on various social media and Internet platforms. During many of these exchanges, the people arrested directed conversations towards sex with people they believed to be minors. Fourteen cases were established that met the threshold for arrest. Seven of those cases were concluded with arrests after the perpetrator attempted to meet the “child” in person. In some of these cases, the accused introduced obscene or lude content, often exposing what the perpetrator thought was a child to pornography or requesting the child produce and send sexual or pornographic images for them. About half of the exchanges involved websites used for dating, socializing, or even websites used for classified advertisements.

Although some websites promote themselves as being for “adults only,” it is not uncommon for law enforcement to work cases in which children access these sites, establish profiles claiming to be older, and then find themselves vulnerable to victimization, harassment, blackmail, or assault. Several people were identified as communicating simultaneously with multiple investigators posing as minors. Such activity confirms what investigators uncover conducting these types of investigations: that many predators specifically seek out minors on such websites to groom them as potential victims for sexual contact.

Twelve law enforcement agencies, all partners in the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children’s Task Force, participated in “Operation Nightfall.” These agencies were: Chatham County District Attorney’s Office, Georgia Bureau of Investigation (CEACC, GISAC), Homeland Security Investigations, Savannah Police Department, United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of Georgia, Georgia State Patrol, Gwinnett County Police Department, Hall County Sheriff’s Office, Polk County Police Department, Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, Roswell Police Department, and Customs and Border Protection.

Anyone with information about these cases or other cases of child exploitation is asked to contact the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit 404-270-8870 or report via the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline at CyberTipline.org.

Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.

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