2023 MAP Mirage

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), with assistance from local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, recently concluded an online sting operation that led to the arrests of 20 men, with arrest warrants outstanding for 3 more. During the operation, law enforcement officers went undercover and exchanged messages with multiple men who were seeking to engage in sexual activity with children. During the online interactions, these men engaged in sexually explicit conversations and graphically described the sexual acts they hoped to perform with children.

Fourteen of these men ultimately traveled to locations in Marion County expecting to meet a child between the ages of 14 and 16 for sexual activity. When they arrived at an arranged meeting place, they were arrested by awaiting law enforcement officers. Nine additional men, who did not travel to meet a child, engaged in online communications seeking sexual activity with a child, and some of them transmitted sexually explicit photos to a person they believed was a child. Of these nine men, six have been arrested and three have active felony warrants for their arrest.

“I am disgusted and dismayed that there are people in this world who seek to harm innocent children,” said Sheriff Billy Woods. “I will never stop devoting every resource I have at my disposal to bring to justice anyone trying to harm a child in my county. I am grateful for the dedication of each participant in this operation and their work to get these vile individuals into my jail.”

We would like to acknowledge and give our sincerest gratitude to the following agencies for their assistance during this operation: ICAC North Florida Task Force, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, Belleview Police Department, Ocala Police Department, Gainesville Police Department, Citrus County Sheriff’s Office, and Leon County Sheriff’s Office. We also would like to express our gratitude to the following community partners for their support during this operation: Mojo’s, Papa Johns, Olive Garden, Sonny’s BBQ, Mission BBQ, Chick-fil-A, Brac LLC, Kingdom Lien Search LLC, Walmart, Publix, Herr's, and Vetted Security Solutions.