Police Operation to Tackle Internet Predators Results in 11 Arrests in Florida

A police operation to apprehend online child predators resulted in the arrest of 11 men in Florida over a five-day period from September 26 to September 30, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Department said.

The sheriff’s department said the 11 men accused of traveling to meet a minor for sex who were arrested in the latest undercover sting operation ranged in age from 19 to 55 years. It said they were arrested on various felony charges, including using a computer to lure a child, traveling to seduce/solicit/lure/entice a child, attempted lewd or lascivious battery and using a two-way communications device to commit a felony.

In a video shared on the Volusia County Sheriff’s Department Facebook page, a compilation of dashcam and bodycam footage was used to illustrate the arrests. In one of the videos, the theme song for the television show Cops can be heard playing in one of the police vehicles on its way to make an arrest.

“It makes you want to throw up, to listen to what these guys are requesting a 14-year-old perform on them, and what they want to perform on a 14-year-old,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood said in a press conference on October 1.

The sheriff’s department also included full names, ages, and alleged quotes from the 11 accused men, which included statements such as “I figured you was real young” and “You home with your parents?” A number of the men were arrested in possession of handguns and condoms.

The agencies participating in this North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force operation included Homeland Security Investigations, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the State Attorney’s Office for the 7th Judicial Circuit, the sheriff’s department added. Credit: Volusia County Sheriffs Department via Storyful