18 men arrested in North Texas child pornography, solicitation case, authorities say

Eighteen men were arrested in connection with online child solicitation and possession of child pornography crimes, the Collin County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

Law enforcement officers seized and planned to examine electronics that the sheriff’s office alleged the suspects used. The effort was called Operation Athena and was conducted between July 8 and 12.

A juvenile was also charged with possessing child pornography, the sheriff’s office said.

Charged with possessing child pornography were William Johnson; Dennis McCarthy; Jason Stuart; Anas Alhesan; Douglas Barron; Robert Dickens; Michael Welborn; Sean Bartlett; Adam McKinney; Andrew Pfahler; Travis Carnes; Ronnie Lorenz; Derald Hamlett; Jose Guajardo; Fredrick Dufour. Three suspects were charged with online solicitation of a minor: Harold Henson, Ryan Birkland and Johnathan Nestick.

The operation was the Collin County Sheriff’s Office’s fourth since May 2017. Each operation was named after a Greek god: Zeus, Medusa, Atlas and Athena.