NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – Eleven men were arrested during a four-day operation targeting people using the internet to solicit sex from minors, Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper announced during a news conference Wednesday.
Leeper said the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office worked with multiple state and local agencies to conduct “Operation Keystroke,” and the details of the operation were disturbing.
VIDEO: Replay of Nassau County news conference on Operation Keystroke
“If you are a parent the results of this operation should scare the crap out of you,” Leeper said.
He said the men — who ranged in age from 19 to 68 years old — traveled to the area to solicit sex from who they thought were 14-year-olds, but who were actually undercover agents. Most of the men were from Jacksonville.
Listed below are the men who were arrested, with their ages and charges:
- Tavarris Andrews, 31: Lewd solicitation of a child by computer, traveling to meet a minor to do unlawful acts, unlawful use of a two-way communications device, transmission of material harmful to minors by electronic means, resisting without violence
- Jeffrey Burrell, 68: Soliciting a child for unlawful sexual conduct using a computer, unlawful use of a two-way communications device
- Richard Capra, 43: Lewd solicitation of a child by computer, traveling to meet a minor to do unlawful acts, unlawful use of a two-way communications device
- Justin Campbell, 33: Lewd solicitation of a child by computer, traveling to meet a minor to do unlawful acts, unlawful use of a two-way communications device, resisting without violence,
- Carlos James, 34: Lewd solicitation of a child by computer, traveling to meet a minor to do unlawful acts, unlawful use of a two-way communications device
- Baraka Johnson, 25: Lewd solicitation of a child by computer, traveling to meet a minor to do unlawful acts, unlawful use of a two-way communications device, misdemeanor marijuana possession
- Jeremy Kinsey, 30: Lewd solicitation of a child by computer, traveling to meet a minor to do unlawful acts, unlawful use of a two-way communications device
- Charles McPhail, 24: Lewd solicitation of a child by computer, traveling to meet a minor to do unlawful acts, unlawful use of a two-way communications device
- Antonio Morales, 30: Lewd solicitation of a child by computer, traveling to meet a minor to do unlawful acts, unlawful use of a two-way communications device
- Khalil Nether, 26: Lewd solicitation of a child by computer, traveling to meet a minor to do unlawful acts, unlawful use of a two-way communications device, resisting without violence, felony criminal mischief, fleeing & eluding police officer, escape
- Sprite Poleski, 19: Lewd solicitation of a child by computer, traveling to meet a minor to do unlawful acts, unlawful use of a two-way communications device, felony marijuana possession
Burrell was a police officer from Fort Myers, and Andrews is a former West Point U.S. Army captain.
According to arrest reports, Andrews ran from Nassau County deputies when they tried to arrest him at the location where he’d arranged to meet someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl. The report said Andrews was captured about a block away after he was hit with a stun gun.
Arrest reports said some of the men answered online advertisements to talk with women who would later tell them they were 14 years old.
Some of the men would end it there — others sent nude pictures and explicit messages to the “teens” and offered money for sex — anywhere from $50 to $125. Several had the exact amount on them in cash when they met law enforcement instead.
“Telling a child nasty things they wanted to do to them and what perverted things they were going to do to the child. It was disgusting as a father and a grandfather. It made me want to puke,” Leeper said.
According to his arrest report, James thought he was meeting a mother and her 13-year-old daughter to have sex with the young girl.
And investigators said Nether asked the “teen” he was communicating with if she was trying to get him in trouble with the police and then agreed to meet her anyway. When he arrived at the home where they had agreed to meet — and met with law enforcement instead — he cursed, ran back to his truck, and tried to speed backward out of the driveway, but he crashed into a tree on a neighboring property, causing about $1,000 in damage, his arrest report said.
Deputies said he tried to drive away again but got stuck in a ditch and was taken into custody after a brief struggle. He tried to escape arrest again after he was handcuffed and taken back to the garage of the home, but he was quickly caught, deputies said.
Leeper said this is the first time his agency has been part of an operation like this and it took tons of planning and resources, but it was all worth it if they were able to save the lives of children.
He said despite having chances to back away, 10 of the 11 men did not hesitate to travel to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex, which tells him they’ve likely done it before, and there could be victims out there who he hopes will one day come forward.
Leeper said parents need to be the first line of defense by monitoring what their children are doing online.
“When they go into their chat rooms, the internet places and they think they’re talking to other children, they may not be. They may be talking to one of the scum bags, and that’s scary,” Leeper said. “You’ve got to make sure you keep up with what your child is doing.”
FBI special agent in charge Sherri Onks said investigators hope operations like this will deter criminals, but she knows this isn’t going to stop.
“I think through most of these kinds of operations with a collection of evidence will follow process with everything that we do. The evidence in these cases pretty much speaks for itself,” Onks said.
Leeper said investigators are looking into warrants for a few more men.
Traveling to have sex with a minor is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Soliciting a child for sex is a second- or third-degree felony that could carry a sentence of five or 15 years in prison depending on the State Attorney’s Office’s decision.