Eleven men are facing felony charges after driving to Westfield believing they were about to meet underage girls for sex, only to find undercover officers waiting instead. The three-day operation, run by the Hamilton County Internet Crimes Against Children Metro Task Force, ended Sept. 24; all 11 suspects were booked into the Hamilton County Jail.
According to WIBC 93.1 FM, the men chatted online with people they believed were young girls before driving to Westfield, where undercover officers were waiting for them. Investigators said they gathered digital evidence and statements from the men that support the charges. The task force, headquartered at the Fishers Police Department, ran the operation from Sept. 22 through Sept. 24 with help from police in Greenwood, Lebanon and Westfield, according to LarryInFishers.
Who Was Arrested and What They're Facing
The suspects range widely in age and hometown. They include 30-year-old Lucky Udoudo of Carmel, 26-year-old El Hadji Babacar Ndiaye of Indianapolis, 28-year-old Sean Conway of Westfield, 21-year-old David Gomez-Posada of Irving, Texas, 31-year-old Simon Cinzah of Indianapolis, 41-year-old Homero Arevalo of Logansport, 25-year-old Darian Foster of Indianapolis, 49-year-old Arvind Kaul of Carmel, 36-year-old Jermas McNeal Jr. of Indianapolis, 38-year-old Michael Podniestrazanski of Indianapolis, and 43-year-old Ricardo Flores of Indianapolis, per the same account.
All 11 face child solicitation charges. Several face additional counts: Flores is also charged with sexual misconduct with a minor and three counts of disseminating harmful material to minors, while Udoudo and Cinzah each face an added charge of sexual misconduct with a minor. McNeal is also charged with resisting law enforcement. Separately, task force filings reviewed by LarryInFishers describe Flores facing Level 4 attempted sexual misconduct with a minor and Level 6 attempted dissemination of harmful matter, with Udoudo and Cinzah each facing Level 4 attempted sexual misconduct counts.
Why the Charges Carry Such Heavy Penalties
The child-solicitation charges concern Indiana Code § 35-42-4-6. All 11 men faced a Level 4 felony count when they arrived at the Hamilton County Jail. Under Indiana's sentencing structure, a Level 4 felony conviction can bring two to 12 years in prison, with an advisory sentence of six years, plus fines up to $10,000, according to Justia Law.
A conviction on child solicitation or felony sexual misconduct with a minor also triggers mandatory registration on the Indiana Sex and Violent Offender Registry under Indiana Code § 11-8-8-4.5, per the Indiana General Assembly. The Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office may add further charges as the cases move forward, WIBC reports.
Suspects Traveled From Across State Lines
While five of the 11 men arrested lived in Indianapolis, others traveled from well beyond Hamilton County to reach the Westfield meeting site. Suspects came from Logansport in Cass County, from Carmel and Westfield within Hamilton County, and from as far as Irving, Texas, according to LarryInFishers.
The reach of these online stings isn't new for the region. Two months before the Westfield operation, Noblesville police and task force officers ran a four-day undercover online sting targeting predators in Hamilton County that led to multiple felony arrests. The task force's decoy profiles typically represent teens between the ages of 13 and 15.
Part of a Statewide Enforcement Pattern
The Westfield case fits a broader pattern playing out across Indiana this year. In August, five men drove over 400 miles to Columbus and landed in a similar sting, while a July operation in Howard County led to multiple felony indictments.
Many of these cases start with a CyberTipline referral from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which processes automated flags from platforms including Snapchat, Kik and Google — tech companies are required by federal law to report such flags. The Hamilton County Metro ICAC Task Force ran the Westfield operation, which involved undercover work and digital evidence.
