TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Seven people have been arrested following a multi-agency undercover operation targeting online child predators, according to the Leon County Sheriff’s Office.
Those seven suspects include Christopher Brewer, Maxwell Brower, Jason Callahan, Jordan Harting, Tyler Haude, Amontea Mitchell and Jeffery Wharton, LCSO revealed during a press conference Wednesday morning.
Seven people have been arrested following a multi-agency undercover operation targeting online child predators, according to the Leon County Sheriff’s Office.(Leon County Sheriff’s Office)
Brewer and Haude both lack mugshots because they are not in the local database as of Wednesday afternoon, an LCSO spokesperson told WCTV.
Each of the suspects faces charges related to online solicitation and exploitation of children, according to the sheriff’s office.
Specifically, charges stemming from the operation include traveling to meet a minor, online solicitation of a minor, promoting a sexual performance by a child, attempted human trafficking of a minor, transmission of harmful material to minors and use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony, deputies wrote in a press release.
Their arrests stem from the undercover operation “Operation Fool’s End,” which was conducted in April and aimed to identify and arrest people seeking to sexually exploit children online, the sheriff’s office revealed.
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During the investigation, detectives posed as minors online and communicated with people “who continued sexually explicit conversations after being informed of the victim’s age and arranged eetings for sexual activity,” per LCSO.
Among those arrested, authorities revealed that four suspects traveled to meet a person “they believed to be a 15-year-old child for sexual activity.”
LCSO said parents need to know that predators are behind screens, using social media, gaming platforms and messaging apps to target children.
Sheriff Walt McNeil said the threat is real and ongoing, but investigations aren’t over.
“We here in Leon County have made this our number one priority. We are coming for you. We’re absolutely going to work daily, tirelessly to get you off the streets of our communities because you’re hurting and destroying lives and lives of little children, and that we will not tolerate.”
The operation was conducted in partnership with Tallahassee Police, the Wakulla County and Jefferson County sheriff offices, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations.
Authorities encourage anyone who believes they may be a victim of human trafficking, or has information about suspected activity, to contact LCSO’s Human Exploitation and Trafficking Unit at 850-606-3300.
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