A 24-year-old Birmingham man is among 14 people arrested in a sweeping Limestone County investigation into online child exploitation, with suspects ranging from a 24-year-old Athens man to a 59-year-old from Elkmont. The suspects face a combined 42 charges, and all are being held without bond pending hearings under Aniah's Law.
According to WBMA, Raul Lorenzo, the 24-year-old from Birmingham, was charged with electronic solicitation of a child, traveling to meet a child for an unlawful sex act, and first-degree human trafficking. The outlet reports that all 14 people arrested face those same three charges, which the Limestone County Sheriff's Office says add up to 42 charges across the group. The investigation, dubbed Operation Fowl Play, was led by the sheriff's office's Criminal Investigation Division Special Operations Team.
Officials with the Limestone County Sheriff's Office said the multiday operation was a joint effort with the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency's Internet Crimes Against Children unit. Investigators focused on people accused of using social media, messaging apps and online games to contact children for sexual purposes, and the sheriff's office said some suspects allegedly arranged meetings with children or traveled with intent to commit unlawful sex acts.
Who Was Arrested
Besides Lorenzo, those arrested include Maurice Couch, 59, of Elkmont; Pierro Chery, 29, and Shawn Dudley, 27, both of Decatur; Rajdeep Singh, 31, of Madison; Andrew Zipperer, 51, of Athens; Contavious Key, 39, of Courtland; and Benjamin Compton, 42, of Trinity. Also arrested were Deron Walker, 46, of Decatur; Fransico Elorza, 24, of Huntsville; Genesis McWhorter, 35, and Don Smiley Jr., 24, both of Athens; Gregory Christian, 26, of Madison; and Sergio Aviles, 29, of Athens, per the same report.
Drugs and Firearms Also Recovered
Authorities told WAFF that some of the suspects also had illegal drugs and firearms when they were taken into custody. The station's report echoes the sheriff's office's broader account of the operation's scope.
Limestone County Sheriff Joshua McLaughlin said the agency intends to keep pursuing similar cases. “We will continue to identify these predators, investigate their actions, and pursue every available avenue to bring them before the courts,” McLaughlin said, according to WHNT.
Part of a Larger Sheriff's Office Push
Operation Fowl Play falls under the sheriff's office's Millstone Project, an initiative launched by McLaughlin in 2024 aimed at investigating and preventing crimes against children, according to the Enewscourier. That outlet reported that the initiative had produced nearly 50 arrests by October 20, 2026. The same report detailed two recent Millstone Project convictions: Christopher William Carter Tomasello was sentenced to 30 years in prison on October 14, 2026, after a jury convicted him of three child-exploitation-related offenses, while Deante D'Angelo Mallory received a 20-year sentence after pleading guilty to electronic solicitation of a child.
The sheriff's office has run similar stings before. WHNT previously reported that Operation Summer Heat led to 11 arrests on a total of 36 charges, and WAFF reported on a separate human-trafficking investigation that resulted in nine men being arrested on 36 combined charges. Under Alabama law, traveling to meet a child for an unlawful sex act falls under Section 13A-6-124 of the state code.
