Northeast Ohio child sex sting leads to 14 arrests

CLEVELAND (WJW) — A four-day undercover operation targeting online child predators led to 14 arrests, according to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office.

“Operation Spider Web,” headed by the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, ran from Thursday, Oct. 26, to Sunday, Oct. 29, according to a Friday news release.

Authorities have identified 14 suspects ages 22 to 71, nearly all of whom are from Northeast Ohio, who they say engaged in “sexually explicit online conversations with undercover officers posing as children” on popular social media platforms, reads the release.

The suspects then traveled to an arranged location in Cuyahoga County, planning to have sex, and were arrested by authorities “without incident,” reads the release. Some were found with condoms, knives, firearms and petroleum jelly, which were confiscated as evidence, according to the release.

Among the arrested were:

• Randy Wouters, 33, of Cleveland
• Warren Grugle, 71, of Northfield
• Stephen Simpson, 44, of Warren
• Lucas Black, 24, of Parma
• Timothy Opincar, 54, of Fairview Park
• Alan Radomski, 39, of Richfield
• Gonzalo Villafan, 24, of Cleveland
• Robert Biddle, 22, of Cuyahoga Falls
• Miller Singh, 57, of Cleveland
• Shiloh Teiji-Saalim-Moore, 28, of Warrensville Heights
• Neil Dremer, 53, of Ottawa, who was arrested by Perrysburg police and will be prosecuted in Wood County
• Ted Williams, 56, of Cleveland
• Jed Martus, 28, of Akron
• Timothy Tatko, 55, of Mayfield Heights, who was arrested in Mayfield Heights

The charges against the defendants range from third- to fifth-degree felonies and include:

• Compelling prostitution
• Attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor
• Disseminating matter harmful to juveniles
• Importuning
• Possessing criminal tools

“Operation Spider Web” was coordinated by Cuyahoga prosecutors with assistance from police departments in Cleveland, Newburgh Heights, Austintown, Streetsboro, Perrysburg, Solon, Independence and Kelly’s Island, sheriff’s offices in Ottawa and Portage counties, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Cleveland FBI and the U.S. Secret Service.

It was the task force’s fifth such operation since 2018, bringing the task force’s arrest total to 122 suspects.