Child exploitation sting in St. Johns County ends with 17 arrests

Jacksonville, FL — A recent undercover operation in St. Johns County ends with 17 arrests.

St. Johns County Sheriff David B. Shoar says multiple agencies took part in 'Operation Cruel Summer', which occurred about two weeks ago, including the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office, St. Augustine Beach, Orange Park, and Gainesville Police Departments, as well as detectives with the SJSO Special Victims Unit.

As part of the 5-day operation, Shoar says the suspects chatted online with who they thought were minors, and then traveled to St. Johns County in order to have some kind of a sexual relationship with an underage male or female.

But when they arrived to meet these minors, they were arrested.

The 17 suspects are all men, whose ages range from 19-years-old up to 60.

"We arrested people from St. Johns County, Duval County, South Carolina, Virginia. These people travel over long distances and they've been at it a long time," says Shoar.

Shoar says out of the 17 people arrested, all have criminal histories, with the exception of two or three. Four are convicted felons and of those four, a couple have numerous felonies.

One of the most disturbing arrests, includes a suspected human trafficker.

"One of these suspects... we're convinced is a human trafficker. We're convinced if he had made contact with a 14-year-old female, he would have either abducted her or got her involved in the drug trade, get her addicted, and manipulate and exploit her," says Shoar.

But while they've made a number of arrests as part of this operation, Shoar says it's disturbing to think about how many never get caught.

Shoar says, "How many of these people get through? We're not running the operation this weekend. You know, how many people are gonna get victimized?"

Shoar is stressing the need for parents to monitor their child's online activities, saying there are 'horror stories' out there.

All 17 suspects now face felony charges.