CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – Eleven men were arrested after police said they offered to engage in sexual activity in a public Clay County Park.
According to the Clay County Sheriff's Office, deputies began receiving information about inappropriate acts happening along the Black Creek Bike Trail.
The sheriff's office set up a sting operation in February, and deputies have arrested 10 men on charges related to lewd behavior and one man on a battery charge.
According to deputies, the men range in age from 37 to 76 and were all caught during a set-up called “Operation Safe Parks” that started in mid-February.
The men arrested were:
Patrick Ryan Chadwell, 48
James Marshall Cox, 38
Gregg R. Cunningham, 63
Carl Edward Smee Dendy, 40
Michael Karl Hambrect, 62
Ralph Elliott Kennedy, 66
Jack Edward Leffingwell, 70
Robert Wayne Love, 48
Jimmy Gene Pace, 53
Michael P. Reardon, 54
Leonard Barnes Wallace, 76
Pace was charged with simple battery. Chadwell is charged with lewd activity, resisting arrest and battery on a law enforcement officer.
Cox, Dendy, Hambrecht, Kennedy, Leffingwell, Love, Reardon, Cunningham and Wallace are charged with lewd activity at a public park
Four of the men had exemptions that prevent the release of their mugshots to the public.
Wallace is a civilian employee for the Clay County Sheriff's Office. Cunningham is a civilian employee for the Green Cove Springs Police Department. Kennedy is a retired corrections officer, and Reardon is a Department of Children and Families employee. According to the police report, Dendy is an employee of Naval Air Station Jacksonville.
DCF released a statement on Reardon's arrest Friday evening:
"Upon learning of the charges, DCF took immediate action to terminate the employee and he no longer works for DCF. The employee passed a criminal background when hired in 2014. We have zero tolerance for any illegal actions. This is a deeply disturbing incident. We have high standards for our investigators as the work they do is extremely important in ensuring the safety of children."
Deputies said the men would be seen getting in and out of many cars in the area and performing sex acts. They even approached some undercover deputies, offering those acts.
Investigators said the men used websites listing the Black Creek Bike Trail as a location to meet up with strangers to have casual sex, and that they left condoms and drugs along the public trail.
"It's kind of extreme. Why would you do it out in public? Just why?" said Ryan Bowers, who often visits the park.
Bowers and his friend, Jillian Wentworth, said they were shocked to learn about the results of the sting and that some of the men arrested were public servants.
"I think that they should known better, and that they're usually the ones that look for stuff like that, and they're the ones doing it," Wentworth said.
"They work for the police. They should know what they're doing," Bowers said.
Detectives said the operation led to a large decrease in the number of people coming to the trail. But many who frequent the area said they will remain on high alert for any suspicious activity.
"I keep looking around to make sure everything is fine to just keep an eye on things," Bowers said.
"I'll probably look out for sketchy people and make sure that there's no one lurking around or anything," Wentworth said.
The sheriff's office could not comment any further on what happened at the park, but they said charges are also pending against one man and one woman related to synthetic drugs.