The Leon County Sheriff’s Office recently arrested more than a dozen people for human trafficking, online exploitation of children, and solicitation of prostitution. The arrests are part of a months-long operation. The agency made its announcement at the start of National Human Trafficking Awareness Month.
LCSO and its partners arrested 16 people over the course of two months as part of the office’s “ALL IN” program. That’s designed to address violent crime in the capital city. Eight people were arrested in what’s called “Operation Firewall” which was targeted to those who prey on kids online. The other 8 people were arrested in “Operation Grinch,” which focuses on human trafficking and prostitution.
Albert Willis is a special agent supervisor at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which helped in the operations. He oversees the cyber crime and electronic surveillance units.
“As you’ve seen the rise of social media over the last decade, it has offered not just more opportunities for normal folk to expand to other social networks or businesses or things of that nature," Willis said. "It’s also allowed the predators more opportunity to seek out victims and also locate and interact with those victims.”
Undercover detectives had hundreds of online conversations, identifying the most concerning people and making the arrests. LCSO Sgt. Tyler Epstein says detectives posed as kids during those conversations.
“These individuals continued to chat with the undercover detective after knowing that person is a juvenile," Willis said. "Of those 75 specific conversations, 8 materialized into arrests. Those arrests included traveling to meet a minor, online solicitation of a minor, transmission of harmful material to a minor, use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony, distribution of child pornography, and attempted human trafficking.”
What concerns Leon’s McNeil is the disturbing nature of some of those conversations—and how and where they were taking place.
“We’ve got to make sure that we educate our parents and the adults in our community to have an understanding… These things are taking place in some instances right under the noses of parents as they’re in one room and the children are in another,” said McNeil.
He says the operation has been eye-opening.
“The reason we called the press conference is to get the information to the citizens of Leon County and to say ‘we have a problem," he said. "We have a significant problem as it relates to our children and exploitation.”
Some of those arrested were traveling to the area from other states. And it’s not just sex trafficking and prostitution.
"I’ll be honest with you: For a number of years, I did not see the labor trafficking as a big part of what’s taking place in our community," the sheriff said. "But I can tell you it is. It’s extremely significant in our community. I thought about it in terms of Gadsden County, but it’s right here in Leon County as well – and other surrounding counties.”
Human trafficking can take many forms—from forced labor to forced sex work. Sometimes they are one and the same. Florida has consistently ranked near the top of states for calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
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FDLE Best Online Practices for Parents https://secureflorida.org/Family-Safety/BPParents.htm
FDLE Best Online Practices for Kids https://secureflorida.org/Family-Safety/BPKids.htm
Human trafficking is a crime and there is help. If you are in danger, call 911. Or call the National Trafficking Hotline at 888-3737-888. Or you can text “HELP” or “INFO” to 233733.
