Jacksonville Sheriff's Office

29 men and counting are facing criminal charges after they chatted online with who they thought were young teens for s*x. On the other end of the conversations? Undercover detectives who were part of Operation Checkmate.

Over the course of five days beginning in late April, our Internet Crimes Against Children Unit detectives led a large-scale operation targeting those trying to lure children online for s*x. Undercover chatters arranged to meet these suspects at locations across the city. Once a suspect arrived, he was greeted by our Narcotics Unit or our SWAT Team.

The men we arrested come from different backgrounds. One managed security at venues across the city, including the stadium and the arena. Another was a youth athletics coach. They are husbands, boyfriends, fathers, and brothers.

Why do we do it? Operations like this lower the demand for child exploitation and help keep your children safe. The more we do it, the more we bring awareness to the issue. Parents, we can’t stress this enough: be aware of who your child is talking to online. Even when a site is marketed towards children, that doesn’t mean predators like these men aren’t waiting to take advantage of them.

And we’re not done. We have active arrest warrants out for others for their actions during this operation. It’s only a matter of time until we round them up and they, too, face the consequences.

Our detectives work around the clock to put an end to online exploitation.

We’re grateful to our partner agencies for teaming with us and to the nonprofit Operation Lightshine for providing resources to make this happen.
Here’s our list of suspects:
-Billy East, 35
-Clifford Skaggs, 72
-Derrick Wilcox, 22
-Donald Seymore, 42
-Dustin Heffner, 37
-Elias Martinez Guerra, 30
-Giuseppe Gilbert, 23
-Jacob Futch, 29
-Jaime Castellanos Marin, 42
-Jason Gaines, 41
-Javier Isidro Mendez, 31
-Jay Kennedy, 28
-Jean Auguste, 45
-Jeremy Johnson, 33
-John Mullins, 61
-Leon Hicks, 43
-Mark Sullivan, 59
-Mikal Detoro, 44
-Nasib Amin, 23
-Nathan Ramirez, 29
-Quentin Quarterman, 28
-Rodcliff Wilson, 33
-Samuel Pinheiro, 35
-Sean Smith, 48
-Stephen Sheehan, 34
-Terry Rivers, 34
-Zachary Bradley, 25
-Zachary Stitz, 39

If you suspect someone is trying to lure a child online, notify the Cyber Tipline at CyberTipline.org or by calling 1.800.THE.LOST.

Join Sheriff T.K. Waters as he shares the results of a five-day operation targeting those using the internet to exploit children dubbed Operation Checkpoint.

Our Internet Crimes Against Children Unit detectives worked alongside detectives and officers from our agency and several partner agencies across Florida to arrest 29 men who used online sites to lure who they thought were teenagers to meet for s*x. Instead of a teenager waiting for them, it was our Narcotics Unit or SWAT Team.

The men we arrested come from different backgrounds. One managed security at venues across the city, including the stadium and the arena. Another was a youth athletics coach. They are husbands, boyfriends, fathers, and brothers.

We’re not done. We have active arrest warrants for others for their actions during this operation. If you think that could be you, do yourself a favor and turn yourself in now. It’s only a matter of time before we find you.

If you think you can harm our children and teens this way, think again. Our detectives work around the clock to put an end to online exploitation. If you weren’t arrested in this operation, we’ll see you next time.

When every second counts, know your Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is prepared.

We recently took part in a wide-scale operation across Jacksonville, putting our training to the test. Every part of the simulation is real, except the danger to the public. Our officer work together in real time the same way they would if they were responding to a legitimate threat. Why? To keep you and your family safe.

We’re grateful for our partner agencies who joined us for the training and the three religious centers for hosting us.

No two traffic stops are ever the same. What started as a seatbelt stop quickly turned into something more.

Officer Morgan Smith and Officer Karim Saoud were out reminding drivers to wear their seatbelts and stopped one driver who wasn’t wearing his. When our officers asked for his information, he gave them what turned out to be a fake name.

When you don’t have a phone or wallet and can’t remember your social security number, that raises some red flags with our officers. Officer Smith and Officer Saoud quickly figured out that the suspect had a warrant out for his arrest from Bradford County. This traffic stop ended in a trip for our suspect to the Duval County jail.

Drive safe and buckle up, Duval.