OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – Seventeen men were arrested after traveling to Osceola County with the intent of having sex with a child they thought they had been communicating with online, authorities said.
The Osceola County Sheriff's Office led the 40-hour undercover operation as part of the Central Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Undercover detectives posed online as juveniles or a family member of juvenile as they spoke to the suspects online, according to a news release. The men were arrested when they met at a predetermined location in Osceola County with the purpose of having sex with the child, deputies said.
“Children are our most precious resources, and we at the Osceola Sheriff’s Office will do everything within our power to protect children from the evil doers who would seek to prey on them. I am pleading with all parents and guardians out there to take an active role with their children’s internet activities, to include whom they’re having conversations with and what websites they’re visiting. Their lives and well-being could very well depend on it,” Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson said.
The Kissimmee Police Department, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Lake County Sheriff's Office, Manatee County Sheriff's Office, Orlando Police Department, Orange County Sheriff's Office, Polk County Sheriff's Office, Altamonte Springs Police Department, Citrus County Sheriff’s Office, Clermont Police Department and the Sanford Police Department also assisted in the investigation.
The 17 suspects and their charges are listed below:
Travis White, 22, of Orlando
Traveling to meet a child for sex
Jonathan Rosario-Ortiz, 25, of St. Cloud
Traveling to meet a child for sex
Carl Carey, 25, of Orlando
Traveling to meet a child for sex
Resisting arrest without violence
Julian Santos-Ayala, 24, of Windermere
Traveling to meet a child for sex
Possession of marijuana
Possession of drug paraphernalia
Freddy Ortega-Yagual, 32, of St. Cloud
Traveling to meet a child for sex
Resisting arrest without violence
Irving Lennon, 46, of Orlando
Traveling to meet a child for sex
Four counts of personal electronic transmission of information to a minor
Use of a computer to seduce/lure a child
Possession of cocaine
Possession of marijuana
Possession of drug paraphernalia
Ronald Moore, 62, of Kissimmee
Traveling to meet a child for sex
Robert Bouchlas, 29, of, St. Cloud
Traveling to meet a child for sex
Louis Ottaviano, 44, of Oviedo
Traveling to meet a child for sex
Justin Taubensee, 21, of Winter Garden
Traveling to meet a child for sex
Personal electronic transmission of information to a minor
Youssef Houlali, 30, of Kissimmee
Traveling to meet a child for sex
Resisting arrest without violence
James Johnson, 38, of Kissimmee
Traveling to meet a child for sex
Neil Forty-Sepulveda, 23, of Kissimmee
Traveling to meet a child for sex
Three counts of personal electronic transmission of information to a minor
Use of a computer to seduce/lure a child
Drayon McMillan, 41, of Atlanta
Traveling to meet a child for sex
Resisting arrest without violence
Emanuel Jimenez-Berrios, 30, of Kissimmee
Traveling to meet a child for sex
Two counts of personal electronic transmission of information to a minor
Use of a computer to seduce/lure a child
Brandon Jimenez, 23, of Orlando
Traveling to meet a child for sex
Use of a computer to seduce/lure a child
Eugene Forsyth, 37, of Kissimmee
Traveling to meet a child for sex
Three counts of solicitation of a minor