ORLANDO, Fla. ?? Deputies detailed dozens of arrests made in a sex sting during a news conference Tuesday morning.
The Orange County Sheriff's Office has planned a news conference to reveal more details in the sting Tuesday.
About 50 people were taken into custody, according to deputies. They're accused of using the Internet to arrange a sexual encounter with a child.
"I can guarantee you I can sign onto the Internet any hour of the day and get a case very, very quickly. There isn't a time of the day. That's the problem ? that's the issues we have," Detective Phil Graves said.
Deputies said the suspects came to the Orlando area from all over the state ? from as far north as Duval County and as far south as Palm Beach to have sex with a child.
Among the accused is a doctor, Steve Montaldia, a fire lieutenant from Marvin County; Brad Lee Shelt, a retired middle school teacher; Neil Richard Gelpi, a theme park employee; Brandon Maxwell Thonen, an army reservist; James Cloutman; and Michael Robert Lee, a youth pastor from Orange County. In all, 49 men were arrested.
One woman, Ashley Nichole Gonzalez, was also arrested.
Detectives said they posted ads on popular websites, like Facebook, as well as patrolled websites popular with known sexual predators.
In most cases, detectives said the suspects aggressively solicited who they thought were children, as young as 8 years old, but were actually undercover detectives.
Prosecutors said they will prosecute the suspects to the full extent of the law.
"We want to set an example and show people that this is unacceptable behavior," Deborah Barra, of the State Attorney's Office, said. "You chose to act this way, we will be sending you to prison."
Seventeen of the suspects were Orange County residents. Thirty-one people traveled within Florida and two others came from out of state.
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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45122629/ns/local_news-orlando_fl/
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