The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office says 23 people have been arrested for preying on children.
Sheriff Ken Mascara discussed the long-term investigation that led to the arrests during a news conference Wednesday morning.
The suspects are charged with soliciting minors for sex.
The investigation was called “Operation Guardian Angel" and was a joint effort with the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
All of the people arrested were residents of St. Lucie County.
Undercover agents posed as minor on various social media websites and in each instance where they were contacted by someone, the undercover detective would make it clear more than once that they were under age. But often times, an arrangement was still made to meet.
“Some offenders even lied about their age to make themselves sound younger,” Sheriff Mascara said. “In one instance, an offender even brought drugs with them saying it would keep the child ‘mellow’ during the interaction.”
The suspects range in age from 20 to 79.
They face felonies that include lewd and lascivious behavior on a victim 12 to 16-years-old, use of a computer to seduce, solicit or lure a child, use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony, traveling to meet after using a computer to lure a child and misrepresentation of age to solicit, lure or seduce.
“If you’re a parent and you have a child on the internet, someone is going to attempt to lure them on a social media site and you’d better be aware," Sheriff Mascara said.
Detectives say while they made 23 arrests they had been contacted by far more people than that.
Watch a recording of the press conference below.
This is a developing story. More details will be added as they become available.
