VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A large undercover task force arrested dozens of suspects in a child cybersex sting in Volusia County last week.
Among those arrested were 22 men accused of making arrangements to have sex with someone they thought was a child. The "child" on the other end of the computer was really an undercover law enforcement officer posing as an adolescent.
"Keep in mind, if you try to approach children, thinking you're going to have sex with children, you may be approaching law enforcement," Sheriff Ben Johnson said. "And we'll be there to get you."
The six-day operation, dubbed Operation PredaTour 2015, was months in the making, officials said.
Photos: Dozens arrested in undercover cybersex sting
The operation, which wrapped up Saturday night, targeted child predators, the prostitution trade and the distribution of child pornography.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office spearheaded the sting but had help from 20 local, state and federal agencies.
"If left to their own devices, child predators will most likely find actual victims to exploit," Johnson said. "That's why these types of proactive undercover sting operations are so critically important. They've proven to be the most effective way of identifying predators, bringing them to justice and preventing victimization. This wasn't our first operation of this type, and it certainly won't be our last."
During the operation, undercover law enforcement officers posing as children congregated in cyberspace and waited to be approached by the suspects. The undercover "chatters" assumed the personas of children 14 years old or younger.
In one case, after being told that the person on the other end of the computer was a 13-year-old girl, a suspect immediately ended the online conversation. But five minutes later, he was back online asking the girl to send him a picture, official said.
"I can get in big trouble playing with you," the suspect said.
When the conversations turned to meeting the child for sex, the undercover officer made arrangements with the suspects to rendezvous at various locations, including a five-bedroom decoy house in Ormond Beach that had been wired with surveillance cameras to capture the encounters to use as evidence.
Once the suspects arrived at the meeting point, an arrest team moved in.
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The 22 defendants arrested for traveling to meet a child for sex ranged in age from 20 to 59. While a few came from Palm Coast, St. Augustine and even a 72-mile trek from Leesburg, most of those arrested came from close by and traveled no more than 12 miles, officials said.
Investigators said some suspects were far from home, but were in town for Daytona Beach's Bike Week.
When they were arrested, several of the defendants had condoms with them. One brought some chicken nuggets, as requested by the undercover chatter, and also had a knife in his car.
After his arrest, one defendant told agents that he was sorry and even wrote a letter of apology.
Three suspects are facing added charges for sending pictures of their penises to what they thought was a child.
The oldest defendant, a 59-year-old man, showed up thinking that he was meeting a 12-year-old girl for sex. Another defendant, a 53-year-old man who traveled from St. Augustine, brought condoms, a lubricant and erectile dysfunction medication with him. Another brought Viagra, condoms, massage gel, several sex toys and 8 grams of marijuana to meet with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl.
Another part of the operation that targeted online sex ads and street-level prostitution yielded an additional 19 arrests. The timing of the operation was no coincidence, as pimps and johns are known to bring the illegal sex trade into the area for special events such as Bike Week, officials said.
In addition, agents arrested two people for possession of child porn.
The 22 suspects are listed below:
Patrick Antoine, 21, Daytona Beach
Alan Behnke, 51, Ormond Beach
Vincent Cafarella, 26, Palm Coast
--Possession of marijuana under 20 grams
Samuel Fanfan, 27, Palm Coast
--Possession of marijuana under 20 grams
Andrew Gangale, 46, Delray Beach
Carsten Haaland, 21, Port Orange
Derick Hendrix, 24, Port Orange
Steven Mandzuk, 24, Daytona Beach
Michael Maurer, 24, Daytona Beach
Levi McEntire, 25, Waldron, AR
--Transmitting a sex act to a minor by a computer
Kevonta McMillian, 21, Daytona Beach
Brooks Mitchell, 53, St. Augustine
--Transmitting a sex act to a minor by a computer
Skylar Nedbalek, 25, Daytona Beach
Dustin Notz, 20, Edgewater
Alexander Oard, 20, Middleton, RI
Aaron Pohler, 23, Huntington, IN
Kyle Reaves, 27, Astor
Chester Ringwald IV, 25, Ormond Beach
Glen Ross, 49, Jacksonville
Richard Sanger, 59, New Smyrna Beach
Michael Smith, 24, Theresa, WI
Benjamin Williams, 39, Lacey, WA
--Two counts of transmitting a sex act to a minor by a computer
The prostitution portion of the operation in Daytona Beach resulted in 19 arrests. Some were charged with prostitution after agreeing to sex for money with what the defendants thought were customers, but turned out to be undercover agents, officials said.
During a reverse prostitution sting in which undercover agents posed as prostitutes, six men were charged with human trafficking for soliciting a female decoy for sex after being told that the female was only 16 years old.
In addition, a 37-year-old woman was charged with battery after she grabbed an undercover agent's crotch to try to ensure that he wasn't a law enforcement officer.
One accused prostitute was dropped off by her boyfriend. He was arrested after agents stopped his truck and found cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the vehicle.
The suspects are listed below:
Francis Bunting, 41, Durham, NC
--Human trafficking
Danielle Edwards, 27, Port Orange
--Solicitation to commit prostitution
Kim Geiselman, 62, South Attleboro, MA
--Human trafficking, possession of marijuana under 20 grams, possession of drug paraphernalia
Jessica Greenfield, 27, Daytona Beach
--Offer or agree to secure another for a lewd act
Ryan Heise, 27, Ormond Beach
--Human trafficking
Damien Hill, 35, Daytona Beach
--Human trafficking
--Possession of cocaine
Alicia Holmstrand, 27, Daytona Beach
--Solicitation to commit prostitution
Simmons Melvina, 26, Daytona Beach
--Aiding, abetting or committing prostitution
Ashley Morris, 23, Rantoul, Ill
--Aiding, abetting or committing prostitution
Santana Murphy, 19, Daytona Beach
--Human trafficking
Lashera Powell, 28, Daytona Beach
--Solicitation to commit prostitution
Scott Racki, 38, Ormond Beach
--Unlawful possession of cocaine, unlawful possession of marijuana over 20 grams, possession of drug paraphernalia
Elizabeth Schaffer, 24, Daytona Beach
--Solicitation to commit prostitution
Bobbie Strausbaugh, 33, Daytona Beach
--Aiding, abetting or committing prostitution
Rino Venditti, 55, Ontario, Canada
--Human trafficking
Celena Welborn, 37, Daytona Beach
--Battery
Tequila Williams, 20, Daytona Beach
--Aiding, abetting or committing prostitution
Sebastian Xicalhua, 37, Daytona Beach
--Aiding, abetting or committing prostitution
The two child pornography arrests were as follows:
Christopher Evans, 27, DeLand, charged with 15 counts of possession of sexual performance by a child
Raymond Smith, 47, South Daytona, charged with 3 counts of possession of sexual performance by a child
WFTV
