(The Washington Stand) — Florida and federal authorities have delivered a powerful blow against child predators, arresting nearly 50 pedophiles in a six-day undercover operation targeting online exploitation. Seven of those arrested are under Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainment, paving the way for federal custody and potential deportation proceedings.
The operation, described in a press release as yielding the “highest number of arrests ever made during this annual joint effort,” underscores what Florida officials call their unwavering commitment to protecting children from abuse. Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) emphasized the state’s resolve, stating, “I know the state attorney here is going to be doing the Lord’s work to make sure that these people go away for absolutely as long as possible.” Concerning “those that shouldn’t have even been in this country,” he added, “they’ll go back where they came from after they’ve served their time.” The seven on hold reportedly “traveled from Jamaica, El Salvador, Dubai, and India to the state of Florida with the intention to prey on children.”
The sting resulted in 153 charges, including 34 for “Traveling to Meet a Minor for Illegal Sexual Conduct,” five for “Human Trafficking,” 48 for “Using a Computer to Solicit a Child for Sexual Conduct,” and 14 for “Transmitting Material Harmful to a Minor,” among others. Uthmeier was unequivocal in his stance: “To go after young kids, there is no defense, there is no justification, there is no excuse.” He reaffirmed the operation’s ongoing nature, declaring, “It will not happen. It cannot happen in Florida, and we will work every day to make sure that we are getting every single one of these guys off the streets. When I took the oath of office six months ago, I told my team [that] going after child predators is priority one. We’ve got about 1,000 priorities, but it’s priority one.”
A significant focus of the operation was the social media platform Snapchat, where predators used various online chat and gaming platforms to target minors — who were, in this case, undercover officers. The press release highlighted the attorney general office’s lawsuit against Snapchat, filed in April, for “knowingly and willingly violating” Florida law, including protections under HB3 and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The lawsuit accuses Snapchat of misleading parents about the platform’s risks to children.
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods praised the operation’s success while sounding a sobering note. “My office routinely conducts these types of operations. With each operation, we catch more and more. The number of offenders only goes up.” He urged parents to monitor their children’s online activity, adding, “Parents, we will never arrest every single one of them. You have to know what your child is doing online, and children have to know what dangers are lurking online. As a Sheriff and as a father, I understand the anger and disgust a parent has towards these types of individuals. I assure you that we will continue to attack this plague head on.”
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State Attorney for the Fifth Judicial Circuit Bill Gladson lauded the operation’s impact, stating, “I had the privilege of being able to see this operation firsthand, and it was nothing short of remarkable. Sheriff Woods and his deputies did an outstanding job catching and removing 40 predators from the Central Florida community. A special thank you to Attorney General James Uthmeier and the Office of Statewide Prosecution for their commitment to keeping our community safe.”
Joseph Backholm, Family Research Council’s senior fellow for Biblical Worldview and Strategic Engagement, commended the successful operation in a comment to The Washington Stand. “It’s wonderful that Florida and other law enforcement agencies around the country are dealing with this seriously,” he said. However, Backholm used this as an opportunity to explain how, “if we really want it to stop it, we have to be honest about where it’s coming from.”
As he explained, “The problem of human trafficking begins where all sin begins, with pride. Once you decide you are more important than others, it’s not hard to decide that other people should serve your needs. Human trafficking and sexual exploitation are the worst examples of this, but far from the only examples.” Backholm emphasized, “We either want virtue, or we don’t.”
Ultimately, he continued, “We live in a confused moment where we celebrate sexual liberty and decry the results of sexual liberty. People are told to do what ‘makes you happy,’ and then they’re told to stop doing what makes them happy. The right answer, of course, is to do what you were created for, and you will find happiness along the way.” And yet, Backholm argued that “most of the time, doing what you were created for requires not doing the thing that offers immediate pleasure.”
“[W]e want to arrest predators,” Backholm concluded, “but we’re going to continue create more predators if we don’t rethink the path to happiness and stop pretending that evil,” in any form, “is good.”
Reprinted with permission from The Washington Stand.
