The Citrus County Sheriff’s Office was part of a multi-agency task force conducting an undercover sex sting operation that netted 15 arrests from Thursday through Sunday.

None of the men arrested were from Citrus County.

The operation was conducted under the auspices of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. Suspects ages ranged from 15 to 67, from many walks of life. According to the PCSO, 12 of the 15 men are alleged to have responded to ads placed on Craiglist that advertised for “guidance for my daughter” for girls between the ages of 14 and 15. The other three suspects used chat rooms.

After the suspects initially answered the ads, they then engaged the undercover detectives in subsequent emails, instant messages, and telephone calls, during which time the detectives offered the suspects to come to an undercover location in Polk County. When the suspects arrived at the undercover location, they were placed under arrest.

Sheriff Grady Judd said, “Despite the repeated warnings and media coverage of past operations, these perverted men freely chatted with undercover detectives who posed as men and women online. These men expressed specific desires to prey upon who they believed were innocent children.

Some of the men even sent pornographic images of themselves to the detectives, and made very specific requests about what they wanted these children to do to them. We have proven once again that there are still predators out there, willing to use any means necessary to harm your children, and we will not stop conducting operations like these until these predators are behind bars.”

Besides the CCSO, other agencies participating in the sting included members of the Tenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office, State Attorney Jerry Hill, Attorney General Bill McCollum’s Office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Lakeland Police Department and the Plant City Police Department also contributed to the operation.

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