Sheriff: Marine, professor among 10 charged in York County internet child sex case
Deputies in York County have charged 10 people in a multi-state Internet sex investigation targeting suspects who sought underage children, York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson said.
The suspects include a Marine Corps corporal, a college professor, and a registered sex offender, Tolson said. Tolson made the arrest announcements at a news conference Wednesday.
The charges are against adults who used social media apps to contact people the suspects believed to be children for sexually-related activities, Tolson said. The suspects were talking and communicating online to undercover officers, Tolson said.
“Our message to anyone who seeks out children is we are watching, and we will find you,” Tolson said.
Some of the suspects sent pornographic images to a person posing as a child, and others offered underage children money for sex, according to the arrest warrants in the cases obtained by The Herald.
Five of the 10 suspects traveled to York County, where they were arrested, Tolson said. The suspects believed they were meeting underage victims at a home in Fort Mill when deputies intercepted them and made the arrests, warrants show.
The others await extradition after they were arrested in other states, Tolson said.
Two of the 10 suspects charged are from York County, according to police records. Aaron John Snyder, 34, of Lake Wylie, is charged with soliciting a minor for sex and disseminating obscene material to a minor, arrest warrants show.
Xanthus Nakia Murdaugh, 44, of Rock Hill, is charged with criminal solicitation of a minor and attempted criminal sexual conduct with a minor, according to arrest warrants. Murdaugh is a registered sex offender in South Carolina, according to police, and State Law Enforcement Division and court records.
Marine Corps Corporal Alexander Michael Bowerstock, 23, an Ohio native stationed in Quantico, Va., is charged with criminal solicitation of a minor and attempted dissemination of porn to a child, according to police records. Bowerstock is in custody awaiting extradition to South Carolina, officials said.
The seven other suspects are from North Carolina, according to police and court records. Those from North Carolina charged are: Albert Luis Cortes, 29, of Lincolnton, N.C.; Jonathan Tyler Hartsell, 32, of Charlotte; Quentin Arron Evans, 22, of Indian Trail, N.C.; Ballam Justin Alexander, 35, of Charlotte; Jerry Allen George, 29, of Boiling Springs, N.C.; Steven Bradley Loflin Sr., 51, of Greensboro, N.C.; and Michael Thomas Bovino, 38, of Mooresville, N.C.
Bovino is an associate college professor at a school in Davidson, N.C., according to a written release from the York County Sheriff’s office.
York County detectives Bob Hamilton and Alex Clark spearheaded the operation, in conjunction with the S.C. Attorney General’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force, officials said.
York County deputies worked with the FBI, Homeland Security investigators, SLED, and other South Carolina police agencies from other counties during the week-long sting earlier this month, officials said. The investigation is similar to others in South Carolina and around the country that target Internet child predators, according to deputies and Homeland Security officials.
Ronnie Martinez, the agent in charge of the Homeland Security office in Charlotte, said the arrests are important for the safety of children.
“Communities are safer because these predators are arrested,” Martinez said.
The investigation remains ongoing, Tolson said.
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Sheriff: Marine, professor among 10 charged in York County internet child sex case."
