AUGUSTA — GBI agents in their most recent child-predator sting, busted, among others, a soldier, a jailer, an actor and a funeral director.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation task force arrested 22 people in middle Georgia since last Thursday and charged them with attempted child molestation because of attempts to meet who they thought were underage teens for sex.

The GBI partnered with the Richmond County Sheriff’s office in “Operation May Day” targeting potential child molesters in Internet chat rooms, many of whom traveled for their “dates.” The GBI credited police agencies from across Georgia for assisting in the task force including Atlanta, Alpharetta, Kennesaw, Woodstock, Carrollton, Columbus and DeKalb, Kennesaw, Coweta and Cobb counties.

“The children these predators target are both boys and girls,” said GBI spokeswoman Sherry Lang in an email. “In addition, the operation targeted those that are willing to exploit children by purchasing sex with a minor, and the recruitment of victims of child sex trafficking.”

Addition charges may be forthcoming, Lang said.

The following were arrested and charged in Richmond County as part of “Operation Mayday”:

• Thomas Michael Moxley, Jr., 43, from Aiken, S.C., tire store employee
• Cody Allen Bondurant, 23, from Martinez, actor
• Paul Ellis Kitchens, 44, from Augusta, funeral home director
• Richard Dean Tyndall, 24, from Evans, electrician
• Leon Cornelius Holley, 20, from Grovetown, retail stocker
• John Kenneth Crowley, 30, from Augusta, unemployed
• Kyle Andrew Negus, 26, from Augusta, software programmer
• Travis Demond Driggers, 34, from Louisville, correctional officer
• Matthew Kyle Sears, 25, from Augusta, tire store employee
• Matthew Robert Tyndall, 25, from Augusta, restaurant manager
• Cody Justin Pobanz, 27, from Augusta, crane tech
• Christopher Anthony Titre, 22, from Martinez, grocery store employee
• Jordan Andrew Waters, 22, from Beach Island, SC, pharmacy tech
• Ruben Ellis Reese, 52, from Martinez, deputy jailer
• Nicholas Sebastian Barber, 23, from Martinez, pool attendant
• Ian B. Shelby, 25, from Martinez, university student
• Everett Ryan Lewis, 21, from Baxley, laborer
• Heather Elyssa Myers, 19, from Fort Gordon, soldier
• Reginald Martinez Grubbs, 40, from Waynesboro, truck driver
• Jordan Blake Roberts, 21, from Grovetown, airman
• Nicholas Michael Hopkins, 25, from Evans, landscaper
• Tyler Alexander Judkins, 19, from Evans, student

“Six of those arrested also admitted to previous sexual contact with children,” Lang said in the email.

The task force made 185 arrests in 2014 and has made over 1,300 arrests since its inception in 2002, she said.

Atlanta Journal Constitution