Twenty-three suspected child predators and human traffickers were arrested during an online sting operation, officials in Florida said.
The suspects, all men, were using online applications to try to find children, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said.
The apps the men were using included Plenty of Fish, HILY, MocoSpace, and Zoosk to find boys and girls they thought were 14-years-old.
One of the men, John Inga, an Oklahoma resident who was born outside of the country, was in Florida to meet a person he thought was a 14-year-old child, deputies said. Another, William Heagney, a handyman, drove two hours on a suspended license to meet with someone he met over an app.
When he was arrested, deputies found child pornography on his phone. Officials said Heagney sent more than 90 explicit photographs over the app to someone he thought was a 14-year-old child.
Several men brought condoms with them to the arranged meetings; one had candy; another had a sex toy.
“I wish I could say these operations were no longer needed but time and time again, even after we make dozens of arrests, these men keep coming back for more,” Sheriff Tom Knight said in a statement.
“In this digital world we live in, innocent children are far too accessible to predators. That is why, as parents, we have to get serious about prevention. Parents are the first line of defense and we will never stop reminding our community of that.”
The others arrested were named as: Angel Alcala-Yanez, a roofer; Yunier Alfonso; Terrance Barnes; Daniel Gilliland, a landscaper; college student Hamza Hafeez; Dwight Harris; Hamid Keshmirian, owner of a dry-cleaning business; Jakari King, a chef; Cody Mathis, a contractor; Ernest Panebianco, a gas station clerk, David Perez-Mendez, a foreign-born construction worker; Judson Perkins; James Persons; Elias Pineda-Gamez, a tile installer; Demetris Roberts, who works in construction; Randy Royce, a real estate agent, Kristopher Ryan, an electrician, Manikanta Sunkara, a foreign-born unemployed man; Kenneth Thompson, a postal carrier, and William Zimmerman, a tiler.
Knight’s office announced that 21 men were arrested in May 2018 and released nine applications that parents should watch out for. The office recently released an updated list that now includes 21 applications.
Here are the 15 applications authorities said parents should know about:
