CHEROKEE COUNTY – The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) and the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, in collaboration with several local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, conducted a two-day enforcement operation this week targeting individuals who solicit minors for sex, according to a media release from the KBI.
The operation, which concluded Feb. 6, resulted in the arrest of five suspects on various charges, such as commercial sexual exploitation of a child, unlawful use of a communication facility, aggravated human trafficking, attempted aggravated indecent liberties, and electronic solicitation of a child.
The following individuals were taken into custody and booked into the Cherokee County Jail: Darin Price, 52, of Anderson, Missouri; Nicholes Reginal, 28, of Jackson, Mississippi; Trevor Porter, 34, of Pittsburg, Kansas; Nicolas Perez-Paxtor, 38, of Neosho, Missouri and Derek McKenney, 31, of Sarcoxie, Missouri.
The investigation was a collaborative effort to identify and apprehend predators who utilize digital platforms to prey upon underage victims. Following the arrests, case files were submitted to the Cherokee County Attorney’s Office for formal prosecution.
The KBI and the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office were assisted in this operation by the Cherokee County Attorney’s Office, the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, the Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office, the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office, the Ray County (Missouri) Sheriff’s Office, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)