10 midstate men charged in federal, state child porn operation

Bibb County grand jurors indicted 10 men Tuesday as part of a joint federal and state operation.

The men are each charged with one count of computer pornography and child exploitation and one count of criminal attempt to commit a felony, according to the indictments.

Nine of the men are accused of using an online service on March 21, 2015, or March 22, 2015, to solicit and entice a person they believed was either a 14-year-old girl or a 15-year-old girl to engage in illegal activities, according to indictments.

The men also are accused of travelling to a meeting spot, the Extended Stay America, 3980 Riverside Drive, after "engaging in sexually explicit communications" with who they thought was the girl's mother, with the intent to have sex and perform sex acts with the girl and in the presence of the girl, according to indictments.

The nine men include: Charles Timothy Thompson, 50, of Warner Robins; Christopher Allen Starling, 38, of Milledgeville; Chadwick Preston Cagle, 40, of Kathleen; David Martin Conatser, 51, of Hawkinsville; and Toney Mac Quesenberry, 26, Brett Dalton Hall, 23, Donavon Akail Jorge, 25, James Anthony Howard, 24, and Francisco Lopez, 33, all of Macon.

Timothy Charles Strickland, 59, of Warner Robins, is accused of attempting to solicit and entice a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl to engage in illegal acts on March 22, 2015, according to the indictment.

Strickland, like the others, allegedly agreed to meet at the same Extended Stay America after "engaging in sexually explicit communications" with who he thought was the girl's father, with the intent to have sex and perform sex acts with the girl and in the presence of the girl, according to the indictments.

To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398 or find her on Twitter @awomackmacon.

This story was originally published February 16, 2016 at 5:14 PM with the headline "10 midstate men charged in federal, state child porn operation."