DETAILS: The Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), along with assistance from the Ocala Police Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Port Orange Police Department, the Lake City Police Department, and the Florida Highway Patrol Aviation Unit, recently concluded an online sting operation that led to the arrest of 40 men. These men were arrested for numerous charges, including Travelling to Meet a Minor for Illegal Sexual Conduct, Human Trafficking, Using a Computer to Solicit a Child, Unlawful Use of a Two-Way Communications Device, and Transmitting Material Harmful to a Minor. During the operation, undercover law enforcement officers were contacted by multiple men who were seeking to engage in sexual activity with children. These men engaged in sexually explicit conversations, graphically describing the sexual acts they hoped to perform with the person they thought was a child between the ages of 13 and 15. After arranging a time and place to meet up, most of them travelled to a predetermined location, where they were met by law enforcement officers and arrested. Some of the men travelled around an hour with the intent to meet a child in Marion County. Deputies and detectives also seized guns, drugs, cash, and vehicles from these offenders, and additional arrests are expected as detectives follow up with various cases. “My office routinely conducts these types of operations. With each operation, we catch more and more. The number of offenders only goes up,” said Sheriff Woods. “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.” (MCSO / News release)