Forty-one people, including one juvenile, have been arrested in connection with a human trafficking operation in Nashville.
Officials with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Friday that 34 men, six women and one juvenile were arrested during the three-day operation, called Operation Someone Like Me.
Among those charged were a high school teacher, a former Vanderbilt University football player, a truck driver, a student and a state IT Specialist.
Officials with Metro Nashville Public Schools confirmed that 56-year-old David Shepard is a science teacher at a high school. He was placed on paid administrative leave on Wednesday and has been employed at the school since 2014.
Gary Rashad Canty, age 20, was listed on the 2015 roaster for the Vanderbilt football team.
Undercover agents posted ads online and got a response from 485 men. In some of the ads, agents posed as an individual selling themselves online. When asked, they told the suspects they were a juvenile girl.
TBI spokesperson Josh Devine said 18 men responded and paid to have sex with an underage girl.
“We’re not going to arrest our way out of this problem,” says TBI Director Mark Gwyn. “This is all demand-driven. These men paying for sex with children in our state are only continuing to victimize girls and women. It’s wrong, it’s illegal, and we will pursue these operations in small towns and big cities for as long as it takes.”
The nonprofit agency, End Slavery Tennessee, identified potential victims and offered them housing, counseling and treatment. Authorities said one woman accepted and was placed in a safe house.
The TBI said the following people were arrested:
- David Shepard, 56, Nashville, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Terrance Debardelaben, 47, Nashville, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Rahim Rahimi, 55, Nashville, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Jeffrey Gocking, 46, Springfield, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Pradep Patel, 28, Lebanon, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Mohab Ahmed, 27, Nashville, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Darian Williams, 20, Nashville, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Daniel Waara, 24, Hendersonville, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Willie Black, 54, Lynnville, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Sow Salif, 33, Nashville, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Walter Jones, 49, Nashville, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Christopher Patterson, 48, Hermitage, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Jose Huelitl, 23, Nashville, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Ronald Allen, Jr., 20, Hermitage, TN - Patronizing Prostitution
- Franklin Osourji, 43, Nashville, TN - Patronizing Prostitution
- Arnold Quentin, 29, Brooklyn Center, MN - Patronizing Prostitution
- Scott Vonloewe, 46, La Vergne, TN - Patronizing Prostitution
- Angelo Sims, 37, Lebanon, TN - Patronizing Prostitution
- Kim Stephens, 21, Dickson, TN – Prostitution
- Peter Solyman, 28, Antioch, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Koreyon Watkins, 24, Antioch, TN - Patronizing Prostitution
- Tereso Rosales-Morente, 25, Madison, TN - Patronizing Prostitution
- Jenea Lancaster, 23, Memphis, TN - Patronizing Prostitution
- Xaviera Gunn, 22, Battlecreek, MI – Prostitution
- Ruben Chavez-Moreira, 25, Nashville, TN - Patronizing Prostitution
- Luis Mendieda, 43, Nashville, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Gary Lewis, 63, Nashville, TN - Patronizing Prostitution
- Thomas Griffin, 20, Nashville, TN - Simple Possession, Solicitation of a Minor
- Alfreda Avalos, 38, Hiram, GA - Patronizing Prostitution
- Dwjuana Bradford, 41, Nashville, TN - Patronizing Prostitution
- Gary R. Canty, 20, Riverdale, GA - Patronizing Prostitution
- Austin Pickering, 23, Goodlettsville, TN - Patronizing
- Key Darius Rucker, 19, Murfreesboro, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Malik Naadirah, 21, La Vergne, TN - Prostitution
- Brittany Jones, 25, Memphis, TN – Prostitution
- Samuel Rodriguez, 48, Nashville, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Jose Alvarado, 32, Madison, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Ashley Smith, 27, Memphis, TN – Prostitution
- Suleman Abdul, 33, Antioch, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
- Juvenile, Nashville, TN – Patronizing Prostitution
