Alamance County task force arrests sexual predators targeting youth online

The Alamance County Sheriff’s Office helped announce 23 alleged sexual predators accused of targeting minors online, part of Operation Ghost Wire and the Invictus Task Force’s push to stop child sex crimes before offenders ever reach a child’s door. Officials said the cases show how predators can use the internet to contact young people without any face-to-face approach, turning bedrooms, phones and private messages into the front line of enforcement.

The Invictus Task Force brings together the sheriff’s offices in Randolph, Alamance, Davidson and Forsyth counties, along with Homeland Security Investigations and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. The Invictus Project describes it as the first collective effort of its kind in North Carolina, built around child exploitation, trafficking and internet crimes against children. The nonprofit partner says it adds supplemental funding for technology and intelligence support, giving investigators tools meant to identify offenders faster and protect potential victims earlier.

One of the clearest Alamance County cases tied to the broader effort came on April 2, when investigators executed a search warrant and charged Ahmad Masih Askaryar of Burlington with one count of felony second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. He was taken to the Alamance County Detention Center, where a magistrate denied bond, and his first appearance was set for April 6 in Alamance County District Court. The charge is an allegation, not a conviction, and the case will move through the court system from there.

Task force leaders said the work has accelerated quickly this year. Since January, the Invictus Project says investigators have carried out 18 operations, filed 114 felony charges and uncovered three cases involving a hands-on victim. Those numbers, officials said, show that the danger is not limited to digital messages or hidden accounts; in some cases, online contact has led to direct physical victimization.

For Alamance County families, the warning from investigators is immediate: predators can reach children through screens and do not need to come to a home to begin grooming or coercion. That makes suspicious online contact, secrecy around messaging and off-platform communication especially important to notice now, as local deputies and their state and federal partners continue chasing offenders across county lines.