Police bust 21 suspected online predators in sting

CONROE, TX (KTRK) -- Nearly two dozen men were arrested in an elaborate undercover sting after thinking they were chatting online with children.

In each case, the men thought they were meeting a child for sex. Instead, the men were really having these disturbing conversations with Conroe Police officers.

"That's how a lot of people hook up these days and parents need to be aware, predators are using the internet to get to their children," said Warren Diepraam with the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office. "So we're using the internet to get to the predators."

In the latest sting, police busted 21 men. They're all accused of trying to set up sex with children.

The suspects are aged 21 to 55, and were allegedly targeting children who were between 10 and 16 years old. Some are unemployed, one is a pizza delivery driver, and one is a physician.

See a slideshow of the suspects here.

"We've been doing this since about 2012 when we started and it runs the gamut," Diepraam said. "We've caught people who are computer nerds who don't leave their computers versus pilots, doctors, top of the line professionals.

"They're generally surprisingly cooperative We've had all sorts of excuses from previous cases where one person said well I wanted to teach kids how dangerous it was on the internet so that's why I was doing it. Of course we didn't believe him."

In four of the 21 cases, investigators say the suspects also had child pornography. If they are found guilty of online solicitation, they can face between 2 and 20 years in prison.