Officials: 17 arrested in multi-county sting to catch sexual predators

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — A Gaston County high school soccer coach and teacher is accused of soliciting a minor on the Internet. 

Scott Webb, 46, was arrested by Lincolnton police as part of a larger sting operation where 16 others were also charged.

MUGSHOTS: 17 charged with soliciation of minor for sex online

An undercover officer was posing online as a child, police said. 

Webb is a coach and teacher at South Point High School in Belmont. 

Gaston County Schools said Webb was suspended with pay, pending the investigation. He was an English teacher and had been employed by the school district since August 2010.

He served as a soccer coach last fall and served as a tennis coach in the spring.

Webb was also charged with possession of marijuana, police said. 

Police said the sting operation was conducted from February to May and targeted online predators through various social media sites.

School officials said Webb was previously an English teacher and a coach at Hunter Huss High from 2006 to 2010.

His bond was set at $105,000.

A detective told Channel 9 many of the suspects encouraged the use of apps like Snapchat and QIK that would make sure their messages disappeared.

Many showed up to different locations all over town to meet with people they thought were 14 and 15 years old, but instead, they met police.

Late Friday, Det. Brent Heavner was still messaging, posing as a minor, and chatting with an adult man.

The man changed his mind at the last minute.

"What did he say?" reporter Brittney Johnson asked Heavner.

"I can't have sex with a young girl," Heavner said.

Police believe the man saw the news of 17 other men busted this week.

"But 10 minutes before the news comes on, different story," Heavner said.

The suspects, from 22 to 51 years old, made plans to meet people they thought were teenage boys or girls for sex, authorities said.

"It's tough, sitting there wondering, 'I have a 50-year old in front of me, how can he do this to a little boy?" Heavner said.

Authorities arrested the suspects after they showed up at restaurants, hotels and parks across the city of Lincolnton.

"It's disturbing to me to know how many are out there and the general public has no idea," he added.

Heavner told Eyewitness News he's collected evidence on suspects from all over Burke, Gaston, Iredell and Mecklenburg counties. He's hoping parents will take this as a reminder to pay attention to their children behavior online, especially since school is almost out for summer.

Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com:

• Monroe man finds closure in sister's death 42 years later
• Man holds carjacking suspect at gunpoint until police arrive
• 3 questioned after man shot outside motel, police say
• 4 brothers sentenced in decade-long sexual abuse case
• Reality star Duggar resigns from Family Research Council
• Suspect in killings of wealthy DC family arrested

Cox Media Group