VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Three men from Volusia County have been arrested, each accused of attempting to meet up for sex with girls they knew to be minors.
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The suspects were caught in a nationwide undercover operation called “Operation Cyber Scumbag,” targeting online predators.
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According to the Sheriff’s Office, 26-year-old MarcAnthony Fernandez, 32-year-old Christopher Alan Geske, and 30-year-old William Baldwin each sent sexually explicit messages to their would-be victims and took the added step of traveling to meet with them.
Deputies say Fernandez was talking to what he thought was a 12-year-old girl, even texting her that “If we do this, you can’t tell nobody.”
Fernandez was taken into custody when he arrived at an arranged location to meet the girl. Deputies say they found a box of condoms on him that he’d bought along the way.
The undercover detective Christopher Geske exchanged text messages with had him convinced he was communicating with a 14-year-old girl. Investigators say Geske even joked with the detective about the age difference, noting himself that “I am like twice your age, lol.”
According to the sheriff’s office, when Geske was taken into custody upon arriving at the meeting location, he’d also brought condoms with him, as well as a change of clothes.
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Baldwin thought his potential child victim was only 15-years-old. When he was arrested, deputies say his cell phone still had his chats with the undercover detectives on it.
All three men were charged with using a computer to seduce a child, traveling to seduce a child, attempted lewd and lascivious battery, and use of a two-way communications device to commit a felony.
Baldwin was additionally charged with possession of methamphetamine.
“We’re not going to stand by while predators try to lure kids away from their families to steal their innocence,” Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said in a statement after the operation. “Each of the cyber scumbags we encountered here was willing to take an obvious risk and meet with a child. I’m just glad they met our deputies instead.”
The operation was one of several others carried out by the Department of Justice across the country.
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While the victims were all actually undercover detectives, deputies say they have seen instances where local children were targeted by predators online.
The operation came just a week after an Orlando man was sentenced to 40 years in prison after he was caught in a Volusia County hotel room with a 13-year-old girl who had been reported missing.
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