Operation Cyber Guardian

Beginning on Sunday, March 25th, through Saturday, March 31, 2018, Polk County Sheriff's detectives, along with detectives and investigators from other law enforcement agencies, conducted a week-long undercover joint investigation targeting online child predators. Fifteen men were arrested and an arrest warrant has been issued for another. Two other men were recently arrested, or had charges added, related to child pornography.

The 16 suspects face a total of 62 charges (56 felonies and 6 misdemeanors) which include: Attempted Lewd Battery, Use of Computer to Seduce a Child, Transmission of Harmful Material to Minor, Traveling to Meet a Minor, Use of a Two-Way Communication Device to Commit a Felony, Possession of Marijuana and Paraphernalia, Uninformed HIV infected sexual intercourse, Misrepresentation of Age Online, Resisting Arrest, and VOP. More charges are pending further investigation of these suspects' phones, computers, etc.

The undercover operation included detectives and agents from the following agencies: Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Tampa Bay Regional Operations, Lee County S.O., Manatee County S.O., Orlando P.D., Sarasota P.D., and Seminole County S.O. Detectives worked in conjunction with members of the 10th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office, Brian Haas, State Attorney, and with the Florida Attorney General's Office of Statewide Prosecution, Pam Bondi, Attorney General.

During the operation, undercover detectives posted fictitious profiles on various social media platforms, websites, and mobile phone applications, posing as children, or as custodians of children. Despite the repeated warnings and public knowledge of past operations, numerous suspects proceeded to chat online, email, text, and talk on the phone with the undercover detectives who posed as children.

"These predators are out there trying to violate our children. We were reminded of the seriousness of the problem last week when Jonathan Diaz Fundora of Miami traveled to Polk County to kidnap and rape a 10-year-old girl whom he met and groomed online. Children are impressionable and vulnerable. Last week we again posed as children online and charged 16 predators. Despite numerous warnings and publicity about our stings we still catch predators. I am disgusted by their brazenness and callous indifference to the importance of protecting children. I ask parents to please be involved with their children and monitor their online activity. We cannot prevent predators from reaching out to our children, but we can educate our children and be proactive in catching a predator before they start to groom or violate our kids. Fortunately, we've prevented at least 15 of them from doing so." - Grady Judd, Sheriff

Click here to read the news release: https://bit.ly/2tzoDta