JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – More than 30 arrests were made in a two-day undercover operation in Jacksonville and another 24 arrests were made in a three-day sting in Nassau County as part of Operation Cross Country, an annual human trafficking investigation spear-headed by the FBI, authorities announced Monday.
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said the “mission-driven” national operation is designed to rescue trafficked juveniles and women and “to build cases against those who profit from the misery of human trafficking.”
The idea, he said, is not only to end human trafficking but to provide support to the victims.
Nationwide, the FBI helped locate over 200 victims of sex trafficking, as well as identify and arrest 126 individuals for child sexual exploitation or human trafficking offenses.
In 40 counties across north Florida, the FBI Jacksonville Division worked with representatives from 17 local, state, and federal agencies to recover two child victims of trafficking, two adult victims of trafficking, and arrest 16 individuals for traveling to meet with a minor, according to Assistant Special Agent in Charge Coult Markovsky. In addition, two more missing children were located, Markovsky said.
“Sex trafficking and child exploitation are among the most horrific crimes the FBI investigates, which is why we pursue bad actors so aggressively,” said Sherri E. Onks, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Jacksonville. “Each year Operation Cross Country sends a powerful message that exploiting others will not be tolerated by the FBI and with the help of our partners these offenders will be caught.”
Waters highlighted the arrests of two men, Robert Horvath and Michael Brockway, who were both arrested in sting operations and charged with traveling to have sex with children. They thought they were meeting girls as young as 13 or 14 years old, Waters said.
Brockway, a Navy sailor, was arrested July 28 at a McDonald’s on Beach Boulevard. He’s charged with using a computer to solicit sex with a child, unlawful use of a two-way device, and travel to meet with a child for sexual purposes.
Waters said none of the women identified as trafficking victims during Jacksonville’s two-day operation were juveniles, but a teenage trafficking victim was identified and rescued during the overall operation. The teen is now safe, Waters said.
“Although it is intentionally kept well-veiled by those that profit off it, human trafficking is very real in our community. It is a web of crimes that not only typically hides in plain sight but also feeds on the social disenfranchisement of its victims,” Waters said.
The FBI encourages continued vigilance and help from the public to identify and recover victims and bring perpetrators to justice. Tips can be reported to 1-800-CALL-FBI or https://tips.fbi.gov.
During Monday’s news conference, Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper highlighted his agency’s part in the national operation, which involved a three-day sting targeting escorts who use social media sites to solicit for prostitution and those soliciting prostitution.
Leeper said 24 arrests -- ranging in age from 23 to 53 -- were made for charges including prostitution, soliciting for prostitution, drug possession and selling drugs.
Leeper said one of the women who was rescued from sex trafficking during the operation had her fingerprints burned off by her trafficker “to make it harder for her to be identified.”
“The thing to remember is that these aren’t victimless crimes. Human trafficking and prostitution ruin the lives of everyone involved,” Leeper said. “We all know that the top three illegal money makers are dope, humans and guns. And one of those you can sell over and over and over again.”