COLUMBIA – A Fairfield man was one of 38 arrested during what authorities are calling the most successful four-day online sexual predator sting in South Carolina.
Wendell Irby, 61, of Winnsboro was arrested July 11 in Columbia after he propositioned an undercover law enforcement officer for sex, according to a Richland County Sheriff’s deputy’s incident report. Irby paid $80 for sexual services and was arrested when he showed up at the agreed upon incident location, the report stated.
The Sheriff’s Department led the statewide sting that included the U.S. Attorney’s office, the U.S. Secret Service, the S.C. Attorney General’s office and other state and federal agencies.
The internet sting involved deputies posing as 13-year-old girls having conversations with adult men, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said.
“We made like we were that 13 or 14-year-old girl,” Lott said. ”Unfortunately for the men, they didn’t meet that young girl. They met us, law enforcement.
“All of us came together during this four-day period of time [June 10-14] with one mission, and that mission was to get these monsters off the streets,” Lott said.
The men were caught on police video as they drove up to a house, walked to the door and knocked. In most cases the men can be seen in the video being arrested as they start to enter the house where the sting was being conducted.
Lott said 12 men were arrested when they showed up at the location of the sting in anticipation of meeting the 13-year-old. An additional six people were arrested based on information gathered during the sting. He said 15 ‘johns’ were arrested along with five prostitutes.
The public index for Richland County listed June 11, 2018 arrest as Irby’s first, and he was released on a personal recognizance bond of $465. However, an article in The Voice dated Dec. 21, 2012, stated that Irby, the Fairfield County Tax Assessor, at the time, was arrested in a motel room on Two Notch Road on Dec. 13, 2012 for soliciting prostitution. The incident, the article states, was part of a two-day sting operation being conducted by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. Irby was one of seven individuals lured to the motel with a bogus ad on the web site Backpage.com, a site used to advertise adult services, the article states.
A Fairfield County spokesperson said Irby was terminated by the County on Dec. 19 following the arrest and investigation.
Maria Yturia, a spokesperson for the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, said there is no record of the 2013 arrest.
