Senior Pentagon official arrested in human trafficking sting | News | times-herald.com
By: Clay Neely (Times-Herald. com)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A senior Pentagon official was reportedly among the more than two dozen people arrested during a recent two-day human trafficking sting in Coweta County.
Stephen Francis Hovanic, 64, of Sharpsburg was arrested for pandering on Nov. 16.
Hovanic is reportedly a senior official with the Department of Defense Education ActivityAmericas division, which oversees elementary education for military families.
According to the Department of Defense Education website, Hovanic assumed the duties of Chief of Staff for DoDEA Americas - formerly the Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools - in October 2010.
As of Wednesday, Nov. 22, the DoDEA website with his biography shows a 403 Forbidden error code, which indicates that the server understands the request but can't provide additional access.
Prior to his role as chief of staff for DoDEA Americas, Hovanic served as an Instructional Systems Specialist at the DDESS Area Service Center in Peachtree City and was responsible for the curricular areas of AVID, Career Technical Education, School Improvement, Mathematics and other related duties.
Hovanic began his career in education in 1982 as a high school vocational teacher, coach and school administrator in the Virginia public schools and joined DoDEA/DDESS in 1996 as an assistant principal at Quantico Middle-High School.
He was named principal of Dahlgren Unit School in March of 2001 and served in that capacity until July of 2008.
A DODEA spokesperson said the agency is "aware of an alleged incident involving a DoDEA employee in the Americas Region" but said it would be inappropriate to comment further and directed any questions regarding the incident to the local law enforcement.
The spokesperson added that Hovanic was currently on leave.
Approximately 26 individuals were arrested during last week's operation on charges ranging from prostitution, pimping and pandering to various drugs, weapons and warrant-related charges.
One of the primary purposes of the sting was to locate victims of human trafficking, according to Sgt. Toby Nix with the Coweta County Sheriff's Office.
Nix said six women arrested during the sting were identified as victims of human trafficking.
Due to the nature of their victimization, The Newnan Times-Herald has chosen to withhold their names from coverage of this investigation.
"The victims were taken to an undisclosed 'safe house,' where they will receive the help they need to move forward from the heinous crime of human trafficking," Nix said. "All females contacted in this operation were offered the same assistance with some refusing any aid.
"Pandering is not a victimless crime, as the demand for prostitution drives the sex trafficking market," he added.
Several of those arrested for pimping are expected to be indicted on human trafficking charges, Nix said.
Along with assistance from the Coweta County Sheriff's Office Transport Unit, Jail Division and Special Operations, the multi-jurisdictional operation included cooperation from the Haralson County Sheriff's Office, the Department of Homeland Security (Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation group) and the Frontline Out of Darkness Response Team.
Those arrested include:
Christopher Allen, 53 of Mableton, Georgia - pandering
Prince Antoine, 25 of Lithonia, Georgia - pimping
Victor O. Alvarez Martinez, 32 of Miami, Florida - pimping
Octavian Brown, 24 of Manchester, Georgia - pandering, drug possession with intent to distribute
Sergio J DeArmas Alfaras, 36, of Cutler Bay, Florida - pimping
Phillip Floyd, 60 of Phenix City, Alabama - pandering
Miguel Garcia, 35 of Lawrenceville, Georgia - pandering
Jose Luis Gonzalez-Avarca, 18 of Plant City, Florida - pandering
Davian Harding, 41 of Hampton, Georgia - pandering
Stephen Hovanic, 64 of Sharpsburg, Georgia - pandering
Michael Matherne, 59 of Newnan, Georgia - pandering
Donald McGaha, 55 of Newnan, Georgia - pandering
Deontavius Pittman, 27 of LaFayette, Georgia - pandering, drug possession
Juan Puente, 33 of Miami, Florida - pimping
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NICE CATCH. This man had access to children and should not be free to walk among society.
How do they choose these people?