CLEVELAND – Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley announced that 25 individuals were arrested as part of “Operation Guardians’ Watch,” an undercover operation led by the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. The four-day operation ran from Thursday, June 25, 2026, to Sunday, June 28, 2026. The purpose of the operation was to identify and arrest online child exploitation offenders interested in engaging in sexual activity with whom they believed to be minor children.

“For the last eight years, our ICAC Task Force, along with our law enforcement partners, has held this successful operation to apprehend sexual predators in our community. These operations are vital in protecting our children, and I am proud of the great work our ICAC Task Force does to keep our community safe.“

– Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley

The defendants, ages 20 – 63, engaged in sexually explicit online conversations with undercover officers posing as children. Contact was initiated through popular social media applications. The defendants expressed an interest in engaging in sexual activity with the purported children. Some of the defendants disseminated images of their genitals and others offered to pay for sexual activity during the online conversations.

Initial charges – ranging from third-degree to fifth-degree felonies – were filed against the defendants, which include:

  • Compelling Prostitution
  • Attempted Unlawful Sexual Conduct With A Minor
  • Disseminating Matter Harmful To Juveniles
  • Importuning
  • Possessing Criminal Tools

The arrested individuals include:

  • Brian Ferguson, 38, Cleveland
  • Andre Johnson, 37, Maple Heights
  • Luca Ascione, 31, Strongsville
  • Doug Matheson, 51, Berne, New York
  • Timothy Rankin, 37, Elyria
  • Glen Martin, 52, Eastlake
  • Christopher Docy, 28, North Ridgeville
  • Dominick Craig, 37, Logan
  • Gerald Rhome, 51, East Cleveland
  • Deandre Anderson, 24, Warrensville Heights
  • Tai’rez Jackson, 24, Cleveland
  • Esteban Baltazar, 63, Springfield, Tennessee
  • Oscar Aparicio, 24, Houston, Texas
  • Mohammad Mabrouk, 29, Cleveland
  • Michael Sullivan, 20, Cleveland
  • Brett Musselman, 33, Kent
  • David Whitfield, 35, Geneva,
  • Delwin Ortiz, 29, Cleveland
  • Samuel Kanyaruginga, 35, Cleveland
  • Domonic Delvalle, 35, Cleveland
  • Clyde Sweeney, 46, Fairlawn
  • Jason Kopco, 27, Westlake
  • Zachary Brodeur, 37, Flynn, Massachusetts
  • Vishwatej Nath, 45, Berea (charges will be filed in Lake County)
  • Klajdi Vrapi, 27, Fairview Park

“Operation Guardians’ Watch was coordinated by the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office and the Ohio ICAC Task Force with the assistance of the Newburgh Heights Police Department, Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office, Parma Police Department, Sheffield Village Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations Cleveland, U.S Secret Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation Cleveland, Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Van Wert County Sheriff’s Office, Kirtland Police Department, Lyndhurst Police Department, Amherst Police Department, Warren Police Department, Perrysburg Police Department, Kelleys Island Police Department, Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department, and Portage County Sheriff’s Department.

This is the seventh undercover operation the Task Force has led since 2018. The total number of arrests from the Task Force’s operations stands at 160 offenders arrested.

*Ohio ICAC Task Force:

The Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is run under the direction of the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office and funded in part by a grant from the Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The task force conducts proactive and reactive investigations dealing with the online exploitation of children and provides training and technical assistance to more than 385 local, state, and federal criminal justice-affiliated agencies throughout the state of Ohio.