The Leon County Sheriff’s Office spearheaded a child sex crimes sting operation that led to the arrest of 13 people within three days.

The 30-hour endeavor, dubbed as “Operation Spring Cleaning,” found that 170 people continued conversations with undercover law enforcement officers after the officer made it clear they were under the age of 18, Sheriff Walt McNeil said in a Wednesday press conference.

The 13 arrested were the ones who took it one step further and traveled to meet or solicit a minor for sexual favors.

“I want the community to know that we will turn over every rock,” McNeil said. “And I want our perpetrators to know that we’re going after you.”

Those arrested included a former LCSO deputy, Jarrod Eldridge. It wasn’t the first time he got caught up in an undercover investigation. Eldridge, 29, was arrested for similar charges in 2022 by his colleagues in the sheriff’s department while he was still a bailiff deputy. He was immediately terminated.

The sheriff emphasized law enforcement’s dedication to the cause of exposing what one lawman called “child predators.” He also emphasized how important it was for the community to be aware of the extent of the issue in Leon County.

LCSO partnered with the Tallahassee Police Department, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida’s State Attorney’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Bay County Sheriff’s Office and Daytona Beach Police Department to conduct this investigation.

LCSO Lt. Paul Salvo said the operation was “a massive undertaking.” Investigators started by identifying the commonly used apps — Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and X — and made accounts to start messaging potential suspects.

“These suspects are all walks of life,” he said. “That’s our goal, to figure out who they are and arrest them.”

Most of the men’s intentions were clear when they went to meet the undercover law enforcement officers, Salvo said. One arrived at the agreed upon location with condoms and lubrication, as well as a shotgun, in the car.

Another was arrested for the second time in two years as he tried to solicit who he thought was a parent of an 11-year-old girl and was going to pay to have sex with her and record the interaction, he said.

“These operations are critical to aid and keep children safe,” Salvo said. “We ask that parents and the community help us keep kids safe. Have conversations with your kids about internet safety.”

Robin Hassler Thompson, the executive director of the Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center, works with victims of sex crimes every day and echoed the importance of awareness in the community and the parent or guardian’s role.

Traffickers are posing as peers, friends, benefactors, someone who will get the victim a job, as a means to lure the victim in, she said. Everyone has to be smart, she said, adding that parents and guardians need to do their homework on the apps and websites their children are using.

It’s also crucial kids feel a level of trust with an adult to be able to come to them if they suspect something isn’t right, she said. If a stranger that someone met online is asking for personal information, this is usually a red flag, she added.

“I think (awareness) is getting better,” Hassler Thompson said. “I think we have to do so much more though.”

Operation Spring Cleaning Arrest Roll Call

• Kaleb Boston, 28: unlawful use of two-way communication device and obscene communication use of a computer to solicit a child, lure a child.

• Jarrod Eldridge, 29: soliciting a child for unlawful sexual conduct using using a computer service or electronic device, obscene communication use of a computer to solicit to a parent/ guardian, use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony and cruelty toward a child by directing, promoting sexual performance by a child.

• Dustin Hatcher, 39: soliciting a child for unlawful sexual conduct using a computer service or electronic device, traveling to meet a minor, possession of methamphetamine and use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony.

• Shawn Hudson, 31: traveling to meet a minor, use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony, obscene material transmitted or shown to a minor and transmission of materials harmful to minors by electronic device or equipment.

• Donte Perdue, 27: traveling to meet a minor, use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony and obscene communication use of a computer to solicit a child, lure a child.

• James Risell, 21: traveling to meet a minor, use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony and human trafficking

• Daniel Spencer, 34: traveling to meet a minor and use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony.

• Bradley Weatherspoon, 31: traveling to meet a minor and use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony.

• Collin York, 25: traveling to meet a minor, use of a two-way communication device to commit a felony and soliciting a child for unlawful sexual conduct using a computer service or electronic device.

• Armando Rivera, 39: Traveling to meet a minor, soliciting a child for unlawful sexual conduct using computer service or electronic device and use of a two-way communication device to facilitate felony.

• Matthew Hernandez, 36: Obscene material distribution-out state transmit information harmful to minors.

• Dominick Capelli, 42

• Jose Rutilio Ozorio Velazquez, 26

Breaking & trending news reporter Elena Barrera can be reached at ebarrera@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @elenabarreraaa.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Leon County Sheriff’s Office sting operation leads to 13 arrests