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Press Release

Op End Game Defendant Sentenced For Seeking Sex With A Minor Online

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Georgia

MACON –  A defendant arrested during “Operation End Game,” a multi-agency effort targeting and arresting adult perpetrators in the Athens-area seeking sex with children, was sentenced to prison Wednesday, said Charles “Charlie” Peeler, the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia.

U.S. District Judge C. Ashley Royal sentenced John Wesley Ambrose, 36, from Watkinsville, Georgia to 46 months in prison, to be followed by ten years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to one count of use of facilities in interstate and foreign commerce to transmit information about a minor. Following his prison term, Ambrose will have to register as a sex offender. There is no parole in the federal system. 

“We will prosecute those caught seeking to sexually exploit and abuse children to the fullest extent of the law,” said U.S. Attorney Charlie Peeler. “We are fortunate in Georgia to have a strong law enforcement network tracking down online predators and bringing them into custody. I want to thank our partner agencies for their work in Operation End Game.”

“Operation End Game” was a three-day proactive effort centered in Athens, Georgia in July 2019 to arrest adults communicating with children on-line and then traveling to meet them for the purpose of having sex. The cases were investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia, the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit (CEACC), the Athens-Clarke County Police Department (ACCPD), the FBI and the Athens-Clarke County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lyndie Freeman is prosecuting the case for the Government. Questions can be directed to Pamela Lightsey, Public Information Officer, United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 621-2603 or Melissa Hodges, Public Affairs Director (Contractor), United States Attorney’s Office, at (478) 765-2362. The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.

Updated September 24, 2020

Topic
Project Safe Childhood