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RALEIGH – A Gates County native was among those recognized last month for his work to protect children against predators.

Walt Jones received the Partnership Award as part of the North Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children Conference hosted Sept. 13 by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations.

Jones, a 1982 graduate of Gates County High School, is an Assistant District Attorney in Randolph County. His parents are Jack and Loretta Jones of Hobbsville.

At last month’s conference, the Invictus Task Force recognized Jones and others on the heels of a criminal investigation operation conducted in August of last year by the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office in collaboration with multiple other law enforcement agencies. “Operation Child Predator” resulted in the arrest of 19 adult men who traveled to Randolph County with the intention of sexually exploiting a child. These arrests did not account for individuals who made plans to come to Randolph County for those same intentions but did not travel during the dates of the operation.

The team shared investigative leads with law enforcement in the respective jurisdictions, and those individuals were arrested at their locations, one as far away as Illinois. The operation proved that child sexual abuse, exploitation, and trafficking are much more prevalent than most know or are willing to admit.

Jones was praised for his work with the Task Force.

Other Task Force members receiving awards were Special Agent Zac Neefe (HSI), Mike Hargrove (Liberty Police Department), Brittany Beck (Randolph County Sheriff’s Office), Josh Hartong (Randolph County Sheriff’s Office), and Ray Dawson (Randolph County Sheriff’s Office).

Seth Williams (Davidson County Sheriff’s Office) also a member of the Task Force, was recognized for an investigation out of Davidson County.

Whitney Miller, Vice President of Development for The Invictus Project, was also recognized and presented with a Non-Governmental Organization Partnership Award for the non-profit’s work with the Invictus Task Force.

The Invictus Task Force is an investigative collaboration of Randolph, Alamance, Davidson, and Forsyth County Sheriffs, Homeland Security Investigations, and the NC State Bureau of Investigations.

“Outstanding work and tremendous dedication by each of these members was acknowledged. I couldn’t be prouder of the team,” said Capt. Justin Trogdon of the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office.