This staff file photo shows the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation headquarters in Nashville.
Michael Shane WyattTwo men were arrested in Chattanooga on Tuesday as part of an undercover Tennessee Bureau of Investigation operation in which agents posed as underage girls offering sex online.
Thomas De Matteis, 53, and Michael Wyatt, 42, were both arrested in the sting, records show. De Matteis is from Hazel Green, Ala., while Wyatt lives in Cleveland, Tenn., records show. Both men were arrested in Chattanooga.
On Friday, an undercover TBI agent posing as a 14-year old girl responded to an online advertisement asking for a "young, petite" female to have sex with. The agent arranged to meet with the advertiser - who investigators say was Wyatt - for sex. On Tuesday, Wyatt arrived at the agreed-upon location and was arrested.
He was charged with aggravated statutory rape.
Agents used a similar method to find De Matteis, records show. Investigators say he posted an advertisement online asking to have sex with a teen. He agreed to meet with the agent, who was posing as a 14-year-old girl, in order to have sex, according to the affidavit, and was arrested Tuesday when he arrived at the location.
He was charged with attempted aggravated statutory rape. Both are in custody in the Hamilton County Jail. They are each being held on a $20,000 bond.
This week's undercover operation is at least the second time since late 2015 that TBI agents have targeted men looking for illegal sex in Chattanooga.
In October, authorities arrested 20 men on prostitution-related offenses during a four-day sting. That operation started in September when officials ran three advertisements on backpage.com with undercover TBI agents acting as prostitutes.
More than 100 contacts were made over a six-and-a-half-hour period, and 11 men were arrested. When the ads ran a second day for four hours, another 40 contacts were made and nine more men were arrested, according to Times Free Press archives.
Contact staff writer Shelly Bradbury at 423-757-6525 or sbradbury@timesfreepress.com with tips or story ideas. Follow @ShellyBradbury