POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WTSP) -- A sweeping undercover investigation into sexual crimes against children resulted in 42 arrests in January and February, including 18 individuals arrested for possession of child pornography.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd held a press conference Wednesday morning to discuss Operation Child Guardian which targeted suspects engaged in possession of child pornography, failing to comply with the sex offender registration and probation violation.
Of the 42 suspects arrested during the operation, 21 suspects - including five sexual predators and 16 sexual offenders - were brought in for failing to comply with the sexual offender registration. The bulk of these charges were related to the suspects not registering all of their social media accounts, Internet applications and email addresses.
The 18 arrested for possession, promotion and distribution of child porn included one woman, PCSO said. One suspect, Matthew Sutton, 30, of Bartow is at large and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
There were also three suspects who were arrested for other crimes not related to the child sex investigation.
In total, 892 criminal charges were filed against the 42 suspects.
“Our children are this community’s most precious resource. We must do everything we can to protect them. During operations such as this one, we proactively look for suspects who prey upon children, either through the collection and distribution of child pornography, or through their non-compliance with sexual predator and offender registration rules, including their evasive efforts to gain access to children through the Internet and social media. Our detectives have done an outstanding job—they are guardians who protect the innocent,” Sheriff Grady Judd said.
Here is a list of the 19 people who were arrested for possession of child pornography.
- Dale Agnew, 56, of Lakeland
- Richard Bishop, 47, of Lakeland.
- Timothy Carmichael, 35, of Auburndale.
- Daniel Collins, 35, of Lakeland.
- Michael Dietz, 28, of Auburndale.
- Mark Ewald, 28, of Babson Park.
- Joel Faviere, 27, of Lakeland.
- Erik Gordon, 21, of Winter Haven.
- Nolan Hartsaw, 20, of Lakeland.
- John Knapp, 73, of Lakeland.
- Brian Rivera, 24, of Mulberry.
- Michelle Roberts, 29, of Lakeland.
- Terry Scovel Jr., 39, of Lakeland.
- Johnnie Shields, 25, of Eagle Lake.
- Jeremiah Torres, 31, of Lakeland.
- Michael wolfe, 56, of Lakeland.
- Lawrence Youngman, 63, of Lake Wales.
- Matthew Sutton, 30, of Bartow. (Sutton is at-large)
Here is the list of 21 suspects who failed to comply with sex offender/predator registration and/or violation of probation charges:
- Shane Adcock, 29, of Lake Wales.
- Joseph Allen, 47, of Lakeland.
- Jeffrey Anderson, 42, of Winter Haven.
- James Boley, 40, of Lakeland.
- Christian Clarke, 42.
- Charles Demay, 81, of Lake Wales
- Larry Falde, 51, of Lakeland.
- Charles Haynes, 62, of Lakeland.
- Randy Kilpatrick, 61.
- Christopher Kizzire, 38, of Bartow.
- Wesley Maffet, 38.
- Edward Michalski, 64.
- Mark Miller, 36, of Lakeland.
- Michael Montgomery, 50, of Bartow.
- Macario Ramirez, 35, of Lakeland.
- Demetrious Rose, 40, of Lake Wales.
- Chad Rowell, 27, of Frostproof.
- Charles Shadley, 51, of Lakeland.
- Robert Stanley, 23, of Lakeland.
- James Steele, 44, of Winter Haven.
- Kenneth Thomas, 29, of Lake Wales.
Three people arrested during the operation on unrelated charges and were not targeted during Operation Child Guardian:
- Terry Dietz, 47, of Auburndale.
- Vicki Dietz, 46, of Auburndale.
- Theresa Sutton, 52, of Bartow.
