The Florida Sheriffs Association reported to Historic City News this morning that a recent two-week spring campaign, titled “Operation Predator”, has concluded in verification of the addresses of sexual predators and offenders in Florida as well as the arrest of many who had moved without properly informing authorities.
Operation Predator resulted in eight arrests being made – seven registrants located elsewhere in Flagler County and one from Flagler County located in New Jersey. St Johns, Putnam and Clay County did not participate in this operation.
“Our task force members worked very hard on Operation Predator and I am very proud of all who participated in this crime-prevention effort,” Flagler County Sheriff James L. Manfre said.
Flagler County sheriff’s deputies completed 54 address verifications during this effort. Failure of a sexual offender or predator to register as required by law is a felony. Currently, Flagler County has 114 registrants; 109 sexual offenders and five predators.
A sexual predator is someone who has been convicted of a sexually violent offense and has been designated as a sexual predator. Predators are the only one with a mandatory requirement for law enforcement to notify the public when they change their address.
This operation resulted in the following:
• Robert Horton, 69, a white male, arrested at 160 Lantana Ave., Flagler Beach. Sex offender from South Carolina living in Flagler Beach without registering. He was arrested on a Flagler County warrant for two counts of failure to register. He remains in jail.
• Dorian Coppedge, 37, a black male, arrested at 41 Louisiana Dr., Palm Coast. A sex offender living in Palm Coast, arrested on a Flagler County warrant with two counts of failure to register. He remains in jail.
• Trevor Brandon, 28, a white male, arrested at 600 Shady Oaks Dr., Palm Coast. A sex offender arrested on a Flagler County warrant for violating registration laws. He was later charged with another count of failing to register. He was released on $35,000 bail.
• Robert Wolf, 81, a white male, arrested at 1528 County Road 305, Bunnell. A sex offender living in Bunnell, arrested on a Flagler County warrant for violating sex offender registration laws. Remains in jail.
• Joseph Sizemore, 29, a white male, arrested at 402 N. Palmetto St., Bunnell. A sex offender from Oregon; Bunnell Police arrested him and charged him with being an unregistered sex offender who stated he was living in Palm Coast. He remains in jail.
• Luis Rivera, 35, a Hispanic male, arrested at 600 shady Oak Drive, Palm Coast. A sex offender arrested by the FCSO for failure to register as a sex offender living in Palm Coast. He was released on $1,500 bail.
• Earl Stokes, 62, a black male, arrested at 310 S. Anderson St., Bunnell. A sex offender arrested on a Flagler County warrant for failure to register as a sex offender living in Bunnell. He remains in jail.
• James Mitchell, a sex offender who absconded from Flagler County, was located and arrested in New Jersey for violating N.J. laws. He has an active Florida-only warrant for violating Florida registration laws. If he ever comes to Florida and is stopped by a law enforcement officer, he will be arrested and brought to Flagler County.
• Michael Hathaway, 19, a white male, is a sex offender who absconded from Flagler County and now lives in New York. A Florida-only warrant has been obtained for his arrest. Like Mitchell above, if he ever returns to Florida, he will be arrested and returned to Flagler County.
To find out more about sexual offenders or predators living in your neighborhood, go to the FDLE website: offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender.
Operation Predator was conducted statewide from February 21 through March 5. Several divisions within the sheriff’s office were assisted by the Bunnell Police Department and the state attorney’s office for the Seventh Judicial Circuit.
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