The Alamance County Sheriff’s Office’s Invictus Task Force announced the arrest of 23 individuals after a two-week long operation they titled “Operation Ghost Wire.” The Invictus Task Force is a multi-agency task force that works to reduce internet crimes against children, sexual abuse, trafficking and the exploitation of children.
The Invictus Task Force is comprised of Alamance, Randolph, Davidson and Forsyth County Sheriff’s Offices, Homeland Security Investigations, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations. According to the press release the individuals that were arrested “either traveled with the intent to engage in sexual contact with a minor, solicited sexual contact from whom they believed to be a minor child and/or were uploading or downloading child sex abuse material.”
During a press conference Nov. 13 at the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Terry Johnson announced that 23 individuals were arrested in the two-week period starting Oct. 13-Oct. 24. Eighteen of the arrests were made in Alamance County. Fourteen of the 18 individuals arrested in Alamance County were residents of Alamance County.
The two-week operation combined cyber tip investigations and undercover chats, where officers posed as minors according to the press release.
Mugshots of the 23 arrested individuals line the wall at the Alamance County Sheriff's Office as they announce the success of Operation Ghost Wire on Nov. 13.
During the press conference Kevin Roughton, a special agent in charge at NCSBI, said the cyber tips they receive come from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline, which is a national reporting system for the online exploitation of children.
Roughton said that many of these tips come from popular social media sites that predators use as a way to interact with minors, like Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram.
“What we've seen in the last few years is this dramatic explosion,” Roughton said during the press conference. “From where in 2019, we had less than 5,000 tips, this year we'll receive about 45,000 tips.”
Among the 23 people arrested was former Elon University student Masungulo Musikavanhu.
According to an arrest report from the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office, Musikavanhu was arrested Oct. 16 and charged with indecent liberties with a child and solicitation of a child by computer and appear. According to ACSO Musikavanhu solicited a minor with the intention to meet and commit an unlawful sex act, and then appeared at the meeting location.
Musikavanhu’s arrest and nine others were made through the use of undercover chats. Johnson said investigators posed as children aged 12 to 14 years old who would agree to meet up with potential predators.
The Office of the Registrar confirmed that Musikavanhu enrolled in Elon in February of 2024 and withdrew Oct. 16, 2025.
Elon University was one of nine agencies that assisted the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office in the operation.
In an emailed statement to Elon News Network, Chief of Campus Safety and Police Joe LeMire wrote the only involvement Elon University Campus Safety and Police had was when they received notification from the task force when they were operating in the area.
Johnson gave his definition of sexual predators during the press conference.
“A person seen as obtaining or trying to obtain contact with another person in a metaphorically or predatory or abusive way, and we have had a bunch of that going on in Alamance County and our surrounding counties,” Johnson said.
The task force also works in collaboration with the Invictus Project, which is a non-profit organization that aims to educate parents and guardians about how to prevent child exploitation and what signs to look for. Invictus Project founder and CEO Ray Dawson spoke at the press conference about how the project supports the task force.
“We are not gonna enforce our way out of this,” Dawson said. “It's gonna take us to collaborate together with parents and people that are in a position of trust over our children, because we're gonna have to educate our way out of this.”
When asked if the people they arrested had any similarities, Johnson said that they arrested a very wide variety of people.
“They look like people that you'd see anywhere: the mall, the grocery store, church, et cetera.” Johnson said.
According to Johnson, The task force will continue their work in the Piedmont Triad area. The Sheriff’s Office announced two upcoming events, including a Parent Session on Jan. 20, 2026 from 6–8 p.m. that will be held at Trailhead Church, and a student and teen session on Jan. 25, 2026 from 2–4 p.m.