BARTOW, Fla. --
Twenty-two men were arrested and charged with soliciting sex from a minor over the Internet during a four-day undercover operation, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said Monday.
The men included a volunteer youth hockey coach, an airport security screener and a volunteer firefighter. They ranged in age from men in their early 20s to a 60-year-old man who is a registered sex offender in Ohio.
Investigators used Internet chat rooms and instant messaging to direct the men to a suburban home west of Orlando, where they believed they were meeting a teenage girl to have sex, the sheriff's office said in a news release.
The sting began Thursday. Each of the 22 men arrested face multiple charges.
"It's disappointing to know that we have arrested child predators who come from public service industries," Sheriff Grad Judd said in a statement. "This reconfirms our dedication to our number one cause, and that's keeping children safe."
In April, the sheriff's office arrested 28 men during a similar undercover sting.
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Posted by: Delta784
Before the days of these stings and To Catch a Predator on Dateline NBC, those kind of numbers weren't suprising. With this crime so much in the public eye, it has to be the serious hardcore perverts who are desperate enough to still try this.
Posted by: kwflatbed
Former Florida Deputy Arrested in Sex Sting
POLK COUNTY, Fla. --
Details of online chats have been released after at least 25 men accused of soliciting sex from kids online were caught on tape in Florida. The men showed up at a local home and found deputies there to meet them.
In a weekend sting called Operation Guardian, deputies caught a youth hockey coach, a homeland security worker and a volunteer firefighter. Deputies said they all thought they were meeting up with young girls.
Investigators set up in a Polk County home and went on the Internet, posing as teen girls aged 13 to 15. Deputies said it didn't take long before at least 25 men showed expecting sex. Instead, they got arrested.
The suspects come from all walks of life. For example, 51-year-old Joseph Cioffi is a security screener at Orlando International Airport. He used to be a Marion County sheriff's deputy. Investigators said he is known online as "Dirtydeeds50J." Deputies said he told a detective, posing as a 13-year-old, "I would kill you in bed."
David Ronan, 42, was just hired as dispatcher for the Osceola County Fire Department. Deputies said he asked a detective, who said she was 14, "You think you might like to lose your virginity to an older guy?"
Even more bold, detectives said, was Orlando youth hockey coach Nathan Galbraith, whose MySpace page includes 14- and 16-year-old girls. They said he asked the detective decoy to be naked, so "I don't walk in and get arrested."
Galbraith coached several teams with Roller Hockey Orlando. The team's administrator said Galbraith will no longer be allowed at games and then read a brief statement: "Please be advised that there is no crystal ball to what someone will do and what they are capable and the safety of kids is ultimately up to parents."
Investigators said they also caught a Universal employee who rents strollers and a man who lives in The Villages who was already a registered sex offender from Ohio.
Deputies said the stings will continue and there seems to be no shortage of adults willing to take advantage of kids.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office has two fulltime computer crime detectives, but for special operations, like Operation Guardian, they involve people from several different divisions and law enforcement agencies.
I don't know if you watch the show, but on last weeks show they busted a guy who actually talked about the show and how he was afraid of being caught in his chat with the decoy, and then admitted to watching the show and being a "fan" when Chris confronted him in the kitchen. What a clown!
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