25 arrested in online sting on adults trying to have sex with children, cops say
After a four-day online operation, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has arrested 25 men investigators say were seeking sex from a child. Eight of the suspects are from Manatee County.
According to a press release issued Friday, those arrested from Manatee County and charged with solicit a child to commit a sex act and traveling to solicit a child to commit a sex act include:
- Nicholas Bonito, 19, of Bradenton.
- Joseph Cate, 33, of Bradenton.
- Maxwell Crain-Perralut, 19, of Bradenton
- Richard LaGace, 65, of Bradenton.
- Pedro Lopez-Garcia, 32, of Palmetto.
- Michael McBee, 34, of Bradenton.
- Austin Patterson, 25, of Bradenton.
- Geovany Rodriguez, 27, of Palmetto.
Operation Intercept VI was conducted by the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security, Desoto County Sheriff’s Office and the North Port Police Department.
“Unfortunately, the internet allows for easy and anonymous access to children by strangers who are hiding behind a computer screen,” Sheriff Tom Knight said. “The men arrested during this operation managed to blend into society and attempted to prey on children by developing a trust through promises to exploit them for sexual purposes.
“So long as men like these prey upon our community, I will ensure our ongoing commitment to putting them behind bars.”
Deputies say the suspects responded to internet ads, online apps and social media sites to engage in sexually explicit written and verbal conversations with investigators posing as children.
“One of the suspects rode a three-wheeled bicycle to the home while in possession of cocaine and another brought with him two firearms and several narcotics,” the sheriff’s office said in the news release. “One man attempted to lure the child into his vehicle while several sent explicit photos and and brought condoms with them.
“Ultimately all 25 arrestees traveled with the intent to of having sex with a male or female child.”
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office regularly conducts operations to curb this type of child sexual exploitation and trafficking. Last year, Knight launched a program trying to educate parent about apps that potentially put their children at risk for online predators. On Friday, Knight added six more, which include:
- MeetM
- Grindr
- SKOUT
- TIkTok
- badoo
Others arrested in the operation include:
- Steven Aldacosta, of Sarasota.
- Richard Antico, of Lake Worth.
- Jose Ayala-Gil, of Sarasota.
- Georgial Bakomihalis, of Wimauma.
- Arthur Byrne, of Sarasota.
- Asiz Casana-Ramos, of Sarasota.
- Andrew Crose, of Venice.
- Travis Deel, of Jacksonville.
- Michael Doran, of Sarasota.
- Jarred Durant, of Riverview.
- Constantin Fota, of Lehigh Acres.
- Christopher Hamliton, of Sarasota.
- Omar Lazo, of Tampa.
- Marcos Manuel-Juan (city not listed)
- Douglas Mutschler, of Venice.
- Joshua Rector, of Punta Gorda.
- Juan Vazquez, of Davenport.
All are charged with solicit and traveling to solicit a child to commit a sex act. Byrne also was charged with possession of ecstasy. Doran was additionally charged with possession of cocaine. Durant was additionally charged with possession of a concealed firearm.
Knight said Hamilton is HIV-positive and initially tried to deny it. He was additionally charged with offering prostitution with transmission of HIV.
The suspects have a wide ranging list of employment.
Bakomihalis is an Uber driver and Deel, who drove all the way from Jacksonville, is a U.S. Navy chief petty officer who was scheduled to deploy the day after his arrest.
Knight said all of the suspects thought they were communicating with minors as young as 14.
“Age was not an issue for them,” Knight said in a Friday press conference.
Between the 25 suspects, they have 38 prior charges with 13 prior convictions. They range in age from 19 to 65.
“This is our sixth operation,” Knight said. “We will continue to do them and what’s disturbing to me as sheriff is that we arrest 25 more and they continue to use social media. We have no control over these apps so it’s very important for parents, guardians and adults with children to know what children are looking at on their phones.
“We can arrest, but we can’t control,” he said.
Knight said he didn’t want to be rude, but didn’t pull punches in describing the actions of the suspects.
“It’s a disease,” he said. “There is something in these individuals where they have something wrong where they feel like they need to have sex with a child. But their perversion, if they feel like they need to have sex with a child, see a psychiatrist. But the best way to cure this is for parents to make sure they know what’s on their child’s phones.
“Tragedy is going to happen,” he concluded. “It probably already has. This is wrecking children’s lives. At some point our legislatures need to have the courage to regulate these apps.”
This story was originally published July 26, 2019 at 10:32 AM.