27 arrests. One operation.

Over several days in April 2024, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Unit ran an undercover operation alongside federal, state, and local law enforcement partners including the INTERCEPT Task Force, FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshals Service, and others.

Undercover detectives posed as children online. Twenty-seven men solicited sexual activity and traveled to pre-arranged locations to act on it. Their ages ranged from 19 to 69. They included a former MLB player, a Mayo Clinic respiratory therapist, a Duval County Public Schools maintenance worker, and an Army National Guard sergeant.

Twenty-four were arrested at the meet-up locations. Three more were arrested following follow-up investigations. Charges included coercing sexual activity for human trafficking, a first-degree felony.

This is what happens when investigators have the tools, the technology, and the partners they need to act.