Men accused of visiting Mooresville home for sex with teens. The ‘kids’ were police.
In an undercover sting, officers arrested seven men ages 25 to 91 accused of soliciting sex on chat sites popular with teens, Mooresville Police Chief Ron Campurciani said Thursday.
The men arrested in Operation Millstone are from various parts of North Carolina. One is from Lexington, South Carolina.
Five of the men visited a Mooresville home to have sex with whom they thought were 13-, 14- and 15-year-old girls and boys, but were actually police officers, Campurciani said at a news conference at police headquarters. Police rented the home, he said.
One of the suspects attended a Kannapolis Cannon Ballers minor league baseball game last weekend where he expected to meet one of the “teens,” according to the chief. They didn’t meet up, but the undercover officer saw the man at the game as they chatted by phone, the chief said.
The investigation involved 78 officers from 21 N.C. and S.C. law enforcement agencies, Campurciani said.
Parental monitoring a must, chief says
Mooresville police conducted a similar sting in May 2024 called Operation Artemis, which led to 15 arrests. Campurciani said he considers the latest round of suspects more dangerous.
Police, for instance, are investigating sexual assault allegations over decades involving one of the men, he said.
Sites where the suspects are accused of soliciting the sex included Sniffles, craigslist, Kik, Skip the Games and Wireclub, according to police.
“If you have a child in your house, you’ve got to start paying attention to the sites your child is going on,” Campurciani said.
Teens can give their parents a tough time when asked to see their phones, the chief said.
“No,” he said, referring to what he told his daughters when they were teens. “In here, it’s 1950. Give me the phone.”
More investigations are planned because the problem is never-ending, the chief said.
“We’re already planning the next operation,” Campurciani said. “We have a plan of attack, with different strategies. You can’t keep doing the same thing..”
Those arrested in the recent operation included:
Damon Jefferson, 25, of Salisbury, felony soliciting a child by computer and appearing, $250,000 secured bond.
Judson Creech II, 36, of Mooresville, felony soliciting child by computer and appearing, $30,000 secured bond.
Jorge Armondo Martinez, 37, of Charlotte, felony soliciting child by computer and appearing, $30,000 secured bond.
Ismael Vazquez, 33, of Charlotte, felony soliciting child by computer and appearing, $30,000 secured bond.
James David Courtney, 91, of Lexington, S.C., felony soliciting child by computer, $50,000 secured bond.
Eddie Rigdon, 72, of Leland, felony soliciting child by computer, $2,500 secured bond.
William Dane Tobey, 75, of Salisbury, felony soliciting child by computer and appearing, $30,000 secured bond.
This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 2:39 PM.