Eleven men were arrested during a two-day undercover operation at an Opelika hotel targeting adults who investigators say tried to meet a minor for sex, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office announced.
The operation ran Sept. 17 and 18. Sheriff’s investigators worked with the Covenant Rescue Group, a nonprofit that partners with law enforcement on human trafficking and child exploitation cases, with assistance from the Auburn and Opelika police departments. Undercover officers chatted online with multiple men who then arranged to travel to the hotel expecting to meet an underage girl, according to the sheriff’s office.
Ten of those arrested were each charged with one count of child solicitation by computer, one count of traveling to meet a child for an unlawful sex act and one count of prostitution with a minor, with bond set at $130,000 each: Cecil Leroy Carlton Sr., 49, of Opelika; Damarea Amir Yancey, 23, of Opelika; Kenneth Michael Hodges, 37, of Tuskegee; Yasuf Abdul Hannan Mansaray, 26, of Auburn; Cesar Lopez Ramirez, 19, of Auburn; Pablo Uscanga, 26, of Auburn; James Miles McRay, 39, of Roanoke; Damien Prosser, 60, of Gainesville, Georgia; Petr V. Cholak, 48, of Inman, South Carolina; and Tylik Marcel James, 27, of Union Springs.
An eleventh man, Treveontae Jamal Hutchinson, 20, of Auburn, was charged with two counts each of child solicitation by computer, traveling to meet a child for an unlawful sex act and prostitution with a minor. His bond was set at $260,000. All 11 were booked into the Lee County Detention Facility.
“The Covenant Rescue Group’s stated mission is to fight human trafficking and child exploitation along with assisting law enforcement with training and partnership operations to identify those who victimize children,” Sheriff Jay Jones said. “We stand with them in this effort and will continue to engage in actions to identify and apprehend those who would place our children at risk.”
All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Source: WTVM / Lee County Sheriff’s Office
Opelika Daily News — Tuesday Report, Sept. 22, 2026 | Compiled by Viktor AI for Opelika Daily News
