Over the weekend, the Columbia Police Department conducted a child exploitation/human trafficking sting that netted 10 felony arrests.
In “Operation Sparrow,” the police department partnered with several non-governmental agencies to conduct the two-day sting. The focus was on those reaching out to a child for sexual purposes, according to a press release from Police Chief Michael Kelly.
“Let me say how proud I am of the men and women of the Columbia Police Department who worked tirelessly this weekend on little sleep to make this operation a success,” Kelly said at a press conference Tuesday.
Arrested in the sting and charged include:
Causton Magee, 28, of McComb – enticement of a child to meet for sexual purposes and sexually oriented materials: dissemination to person under 18;
Kevin Korndorffer, 28, of Petal – enticement of a child to meet for sexual purposes;
Antonio Daniels, 23, of Columbia - enticement of a child to meet for sexual purposes;
Andrew Pearson, 19, of Perkinston - enticement of a child to meet for sexual purposes;
Harry Brister, 28, of Hattiesburg - enticement of a child to meet for sexual purposes;
Colby Bourn, 24, of McComb - enticement of a child to meet for sexual purposes and sexually oriented materials: dissemination to persons under 18;
Kadarious McKelphin, 22, of Tylertown - enticement of a child to meet for sexual purposes;
Mason Parker, 28, of Bay Springs - enticement of a child to meet for sexual purposes;
Jermichael Caston, 29, of Tylertown - enticement of a child to meet for sexual purposes;
Ladarious Thornton, 25, of Laurel – cities and released for sexually oriented materials: dissemination to person under 18. Other charges are pending further investigation.
Magee, Korndorffer, Daniels, Pearson, Brister, Bourn, McKelphin, Parker and Caston were jailed on a $25,000 bond. Caston, Daniels, Korndorffer, Magee, Parker and Pearson have all posted bond.
Kelly said multiple investigations are continuing.
Over the past year, Kelly said the department has conducted several successful operations.
While the press conference was to address the weekend operation, Kelly said he also wanted to reach out to parents.
“When we think about human trafficking, so many times we think about what we see in the movies. Kids out playing on the playground, teenagers going to the store, a suspicious van drives up, individuals jump out of the van and put a bag over the person’s head, kidnap them and drive them off. That’s in the movies. Let me tell you again, parents: That is in the movies,” he said.
He said the traffickers and sick individuals are preying on the children more easily in today’s society because they are invited into the home by smartphones and other electronic devices. It happens in the child’s bedroom at night.
“You are giving traffickers access to your kids when you don’t monitor what they are doing online on their cellphones,” he said.
Kelly warned that traffickers find their victims on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. From there, a relationship with the child can develop with the trafficker slowly drawing in the child to encourage the child to want to meet.
Kelly advised that if a child has SnapChat and TikTok, they need to be deleted as predators troll those sites. He recommends monitoring Facebook and Instagram as well.
“It’s time we educate our community on the dangers that are out there in the online community,” Kelly said.
He urged parents to monitor everything their children are doing online. He continued saying how vital it was for parents to know what their children are doing on social media sites because that is where the predators lay and wait.
Kelly wanted to thank the agencies that assisted in the operation this weekend, including FREE International, KlaasKids, Called 2 Rescue, Anonymity Rescue, Raven Cell, Changed Unchained and Sports World Against Trafficking. In addition, support was also received from the Miss. Attorney General’s Office Human Trafficking Division, Miss. Department of Corrections and the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Taskforce.
Operation Sparrow received its name from the old hymnal “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.” While man cannot see every victim, Kelly said the Lord does.
