Sheepdog bites Internet predators

St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar has announced that he and State Attorney R.J. Larizza are holding a press conference this afternoon to provide the media with details of a week-long undercover investigation that netted seventeen arrests.

Code named “Operation: Sheepdog” by the Internet Crimes against Children Task Force, participating law enforcement agencies in North Florida located and identified these men who use the Internet to sexually exploit children.

Children now have access to the Internet on portable computing devices including cell phones; which, if left unsecured, can provide predators with the exact location of your child.

Shoar told Historic City News that these seventeen arrests, unfortunately, will not be the only arrests made because of sex crimes committed over the Internet in St. Johns County.

Investigators covertly pose as “johns” and “hookers” on websites like Craigslist and other online forums; arresting offenders who violate Florida’s prostitution and child pornography laws.

Photo credits: © 2011 Historic City News staff photographer