Man sentenced to prison after he was indicted in Middle Georgia child sex crimes case
A man caught in Houston County talking to a federal agent posed as a minor has been sentenced to four years in prison after an investigation into several offenders, court records show.
Jon Wiltberger was sentenced last week after he pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to use interstate and foreign commerce to transmit information about a minor on Oct. 22. Although Wiltberger had expressed that he shouldn’t be talking to a minor, he kept up the conversation and it later became sexual, according to his plea agreement.
Federal agents were running the online account under the name Abi, who Wiltberger thought was a minor, court records show. The agents were working on Operation Red Rover at the time.
Wiltberger began talking to Abi on Feb. 15, using the username “Moderated,” the plea agreement said. He then shared his phone number with Abi so they could continue chatting outside the dating app.
As the conversation between the two progressed, the minor shared with Wiltberger that she was 13 years old. At first, he said that she “was too young for him to be talking to, but he continued the conversation,” according to the plea agreement.
“At one point, Defendant stated that he was conflicted because he wanted to have fun with ‘Abi’ but also did not want to get caught,” the plea agreement said.
The conversation later became sexual as Wiltberger indicated that he “needed to have sex,” according to the plea agreement. He shared suggestive images of himself.
Wiltberger agreed to meet with the person who he thought was Abi at a Circle K convenience store, which agents had under surveillance. He was later taken into custody and admitted to intending to communicate with a minor.
Wiltberger will serve his four years consecutively with a case in Jefferson County, Colorado, court records say, which means he will have to serve both sentences. He will also be on supervised release for 10 years.
Operation Red Rover caught other men
Operation Red Rover was conducted by the Homeland Security Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Cyber Investigations Group and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, with the operation based in Warner Robins. The investigation resulted in indictments against seven other men for similar offenses.
- Naimilkumar Dadawala was sentenced to 2 years in prison
- Marquaze Williams was sentenced to 14 years in prison
- Steven Williams pleaded guilty and will be sentenced on March 5
- Dewan Mitchell pleaded guilty and will be sentenced on April 2
- Jose Santiago Longoria-Alvarez pleaded guilty and will be sentenced Feb. 26
- Darryl Lockett was sentenced to more than three years in prison
- Rashon Griggs was sentenced to four years in prison.
