Another Central Florida County is creating headlines and publicly patting themselves on the back for another “sex offender sting operation” (this one dubbed ‘Deviant Desire’) that arrested 11 people who would likely not have engaged with a minor for sex if not for the efforts of the police, who throw out ads on adult sites and then change the age of the person to a minor in order to charge people of sex offenses.
You can watch a video of the arrests plus the press conference from this link:
ARRESTED: The Volusia County Sheriff's Office is holding a news conference regarding an Internet predator sting operation that resulted in several arrests.MORE NEWS: https://bit.ly/2Cq3E1X
Posted by FOX 35 Orlando on Tuesday, October 1, 2019
I keep asking this and have been saying this for a couple years now since we see more and more of these sting operations here in Florida can we as a whole get together and do a class action lawsuit on the federal or local side ?? Who can we contact if this was filed can you imagine the attention it will get here in Florida maybe It a wake up call on these agencies!
Wow, this article and many more are so terrible. Even about a man comiting suicide, guess I’m not the only one that went to an adult chat site. I would like to say hi to Vicki Henry as she strives with her team. Now People while I have read these comments I sense all of you all were taken avanged of so to speak and suicide is one of the many aspects of these operations that is so dreadful with this deceptive method.
Now I in Virginia and got caught up the same way so to speak. So listen up and I hope this helps every one to help get true justice. I can’t even understand any of this whole sex offender ordeal as its got so many loopholes but who understand’s the thought and intents of another. One wonders who’s protecting who’s in this true understanding. One wonders who’s wicked today in many government inducements or one might use the word cover-ups.
Yes I was on an adult sex chat site myself I had just gotten finished texting with one person on there. Than I noticed a person on the chat site that had a SN of 15 year old. I clicked on texted the person to warn them that they shouldn’t be on here. They came up with this thing nobody tells me what to do and all that garbarge, saying they were lonely nobody would talk to them after knowing their age and I actually got suspicous of the whole ordeal and felt sorry for them at the same time. Here’s the catch, When I tell them my age, or they find out my age. they don’t even talk to me. Notice the deceptive phrasing in this truth or dare ordeal.
Sure my story has more but the second night was the inducing moment, as the first night I gave them a good bye text, I even spoke to them on the phone which didn’t sound quite right as the voice was muffled and they covered that up with I’ve had a cold when I questioned that. The the second night they clicked onto me and wanted to manipulate me again. Sure there is a difference between manipulation and persuasion. Anyway the second night I went down there because I had my discernment, and yes I made a decision and not a choice. I posed this to the detective and he said whats the difference and he would think of something to charge me with.
I hope my story helps everyone in Florida and in many area’s of the USA.
I even ask the person if I came down there what they would want me to do and the person said I want you to talk dirty to me. Course that was the first night and I texted my good bye’s to that person. I did give a dirty chat thou. Sure they showed me a picture of themself, which was a bit homely. They wanted me to send a picture of me and I could sense they wanted dirty pictures because they ask for more . Call it a devilish deception or abuse of conscience.
These operations go against the laws of divine law of God in much of this snare. One could even call this is a type of marking technique or snare by devilish means to entice one or could chicken little prevent the sky from falling. I have studied on this for seven years and even gotten a bit more bible understanding and wisdom so who is justified in the end or where is truth in todays’ world and many of these internet sex schemes.
When man’s justice conflict’s with Gods Justice and truch as in the princles or the commendants than there is a problem or who cast the first stone. Do some bible study and you will find out the truth and the truth will set you free.
A bit of Christian understanding is varying rewarding but that’s up to each individual. These internet sex stings are like some game in this vanity fair. Isn’t it time for everyone to get some true understanding.
FAC’s weekly update is confusing on this issue.
Did people engage in sex chat with an adult and THEN get told the other person was 14 and get prosecuted just for that?
Or did they, I’m thinking more likely, engage in sex chat with an adult, get told they were 14, and CONTINUE on in that manner after being told?
I wonder what would happen if one of these guys called the police while on line and reported a 14 year old was soliciting for sex on an adult website?
They would put themselves in legal jeopardy.
Absolutely nothing would happen.
I still think if a person can be convicted for the supposed attempt to have sex with a fictional minor, then the LE agencies running these stings should be criminally liable for endangering/trafficking those same fictional minors.
And they WOULD be criminally liable, if they believed the minors to be real rather than fictional.
wake up people
most people I know want to have a person to be intimate with but for gods sake when you see or hear 14 years old HANG UP!!!!!!!!!!!
In the 1980s, a rock group made a song with a chorus that goes:
“Don’t stand, don’t stand so
Don’t stand so close to me
Don’t stand, don’t stand so
Don’t stand so close to me”
It’s a song about an adult teacher being tempted by a young schoolgirl. The rock group was/is appropriately called The Police. The lead singer’s name, Sting. They were decades ahead of what’s happening today.
LOL hate to laugh but I never really thought about that before. I am usually pretty good at picking things out like that but for the past 35 years my life ( like many on here ) has been turned upside down. First by something I was accused of then later when the Government decided we all needed to be registered deviants so non deviants could come commit crimes against us with no consequences. Since we are not allowed to own a firearm we have to look for other items to protect our homes like a 155 lb dog, a baseball bat and a security system with cameras.
Ironically the band’s name is The Police
WJ I did that and they messaged me two more times. It also doesn’t help that the Florida Legislature makes their burden of proof non existent
Are all 67 Florida sheriffs similar to this Chitwood? Or is he, like, kind of special?
Either way, I know what Chitwood for the most part is NOT doing— protecting kids. Instead, he is engaging in security theater at the county’s expense.
Dear Jacob, the answer to your question is no. Orange County (Orlando) Sheriff John Mina has a brother serving a very lengthy period in a Florida prison for a contact sex offense. Since Sheriff Mina took office, I haven’t seen any of these types of stings or sex offender registry stings in Orange County. I’m not saying such stings are totally absent, but it appears Sheriff Mina is not the camera hounds that the Sheriff $hitwood and Sheriff Pudd are in nearby counties Volusia and Polk counties, respectively.
Camera hounds must be the term I was looking for. Reminds me that St. John’s and Duval, among others, are diligent about compliance but rarely if ever waste resources on such publicity stunts. It’s encouraging that in a major county like Orange, the sheriff is more grounded and apparently shows some common sense.
Before becoming Sheriff Chitwood was the city of Daytona’s police chief.
He has bounced around a lot and I would like to know why he left so many departments. Here is his profile ( See link for all of it )
Elected Sheriff of Volusia County in August 2016. Sworn in on January 3, 2017
Police Chief, Daytona Beach Police Department (May 30, 2006-November 11, 2016)
Police Chief, Shawnee, Oklahoma (May 1, 2005-May 23, 2006)
Philadelphia Police Department (November 1988-May 2005); worked in the patrol, tactical, narcotics and detective divisions;
rose to the rank of Lieutenant and was the recipient of 58 official commendations for valor, bravery, heroism and merit
https://www.volusiasheriff.org/about/sheriff.stml
My guess is that he will be voted out of office come 2020. From what I have seen in the Duval/Clay area, voters do not put up with people like him.
Someone this week asked if all sheriffs in the state of Florida are like this guy. Regardless of what you think of him, the sheriff in Jacksonville/Duval seems to stay in the background for the most part, shying away from the public spotlight. In Clay County that has always been true, too, until our new sheriff came into office. He loves to get in front of a microphone and seems more like a politician than a sheriff. Well, now he is under a state investigation, and he has become very quiet. In my many years on this earth, I have observed others similar to Chitwood and found that they carry their hot-headed, bullying tactics into all areas of their lives and are eventually brought down by them. I predict this will happen to Chitwood some day. A lot of prayers can help speed up the process.
Are Volusia County children safer than other children? Are they victimized at lower rates, due to people like Sheriff Chitwood?
I think I know the answer but want to make sure I’m not the one that’s crazy.
Our Jacksonville paper recently reported about the crime problem in Daytona Beach: rampant prostitution (which probably means sex trafficking), motorcycle gangs and serial killers. Chitwood needs to focus his attention on where the real crime is in his county.
This is the first time that I have actually ever seen a video of him. He needs counseling. He criticizes everyone: judges, attorneys and media outlets. He is scary.
The video makes Chitwood seem more unhinged than peoples’ descriptions of him on the FAC forum would lead you to believe, and that’s saying something.
While many good points are being made in these comments, the fact remains that 11 people did not walk away when the age of the person they were talking to was eventually made known to them. Bad for them, bad for all of us, and bad for FAC and other organizations trying to make progress in our fight to get relief from this burden. How do we convince the public who is reluctant to listen that there really is no reason to not support our cause when these eleven idiots give law enforcement all the ammunition they need to justify our status quo? While I support all the points being made here and in other postings, I cannot disregard the damage done to all of us by those who cannot control their problem and have no sympathy for them or for their current status. If you have a problem with alcohol then stay away from the dam bar.
It does help our cause in that none of the perpetrators were on the registry. (Am I correct? Because I believe the sheriff would have made a big deal of it if someone were).
Take the registry down, because as this example shows, it protects almost no one. Something like 95.8% of sex crimes are perpetrated by someone with no criminal record. And recidivism stats for those convicted are well known to those on this forum.
But these are thoughtful observations from Sentinel, and I don’t entirely disagree.
The problem is, now they will all most likely be added to the states registry. Like I said, if the registries still exist 20 years from now, statistically 50% of the U.S population will be on some sort of registry.
Sentinal, I agree with your opinion generally. The teachings I ascribe to in connection with my faith would guide me away from a potentially disastrous situation as these individuals have found themselves in.
That aside, I have just one correction with regard to your comment. Let’s remember that the “person” they were talking to were, in reality, of legal age, and at some point (which is not entirely clear when) the person impersonates a minor to create the criminal violation. I’m sure profile pictures and/or ages didn’t match the age being used to prosecute these persons, otherwise they would simply be booted from the site (these are adult only sites according to the post). It’s only in the chat sessions that this detail must, therefore, must have been disclosed.
It would be in the public’s interest to scrutinize these chat sessions to ensure our law enforcement personnel are, in fact, operating within the bounds of the law and that these arrests do, in fact, represent the prosecution of persons whose intent is to criminally engage in sexual conduct with minors, to the extent that this intent is without dispute.
I agree only ones who are preying are those sheriff including sheriff grady judd he does it and thinks he is the only law there is we know how they are doing for one thing why would 14 be on adult sights lets go people fight back no they aren’t any safer it parents job to keep them safe its his job to protect and serve everyone not to cause more crime
Years ago I use to go on a dating site after my divorce. You would be talking to a nice looking lady or man ( depending on what you like ) and their profile would say they were 25. After 15 minutes or so when they have you liking them, “oh hope your not mad, but I am 15” . What is funny is I would click the “report” button with a screen shot of the conversation. The next day the same person was on there and can 100% guarantee you it was law enforcement working along with the site since the profile never went away. One time someone who was braver than me was typing in the main chat room that everyone can see to not talk to that person because they were a cop.
When I got arrested there was no such thing as the internet. Ok now I feel old.
Sentinel-Think of this ‘crime creation’ as an assembly line. You start with a frame (of age chat site) where adults go to just socialize or meet someone they can get acquainted with and hopefully begin a relationship. Right? No crime there! The frame moves on down the line with parts (conversation & grooming) being added along the way. Now it’s time for the engine to be dropped in to get it ready to drive off the line. The bait has been put out and the switch occurs. It is known that many guys caught up in these stings are experiencing some depression from a break-up, divorce, loss, etc., so the engine is not clicking on all cylinders. They are vulnerable and the gasoline (testosterone) gets added at the next station. The brakes are being installed so that it can be operational when driven off the line. That is, of course, where the conversation should end but wait you can get the cool wheels, high performance and extra warranty at little cost (pot, liquor sex toys) if you add them to your contract.
The public is groomed to believe they are saving a child which we know is a farce and the public is NEVER told the details of how this occurs as they want to protect their operation.
Lastly, the assembly line crew turns the vehicle over to the sales team (prosecutors) who sprinkles some false statements in to the sales pitch. Again the public never sees the sprinkles. The crime ends in a plea deal (97% federal and 95% state). A life and a family are destroyed,
Maybe we should suggest that the media do a deep-dive in a case by asking for the records and talking with the offender then write their story.
Soooooo, let’s say it was a minor the officer’s were soliciting, would you arrest them if they showed up?
The problem is they are adults talking to adults so why is a 14 year old on adult sight they aren’t targeting children the officers are preying on adults sights yes i think now people should start going on and calling police. I know for a fact the one in may 2017 duval county officers contacted the person at 1 am what they don’t do is give all texts picture to attorneys or court of what all they do like an officers picture one with wedding ring the sheriff just thinks he is above the law what the heck a duval judge went on a special sight got caught he appolized and said he was courious so why would a 14 year be on adult sight during day should be in school after school hours should be home doing home work how many times is there crime and shows on news they need public help on information how is that working for ya
Who tells the truth on a internet dating site especially sites like Craigslist or Tinder. The answer is no one and since to most it’s not common knowledge that once a person states they are a minor they don’t have to provide proof that statement is enough of course they are going to arrest people especially when you think its just some 40 something pulling your chain which is what happened to me. So don’t be so quick to blame someone for hurting our cause because you don’t know what they were thinking when it happened.
This clearly illustrates that Florida has no intention on making their so called sex offender registry anything more than a money making machine.
These cops are LAZY and they always go after the low hanging fruit. So when they are not planting evidence on innocent citizens they stage stings such as this.
They have NO intention of ever removing people from this hit list until the Federal government forces them – so – don’t hold your breath!
Shitwood needs to keeps saying these are protecting kids, protect the kids, etc…
2 questions for you shitwood
1}. where are these kids you protected with these arrests?
Ohh there were none!
2}. since you tout your uneducated pie hole stating that these are dangerous people then why were non a previously convicted sex offender?
Mr. Shitwood, you are a danger to the community breaking up families, ruining people’s lives with these nonexistent child sex victims by creating crimes! Also Mr. Shitwood STOP behaving and crying like a little child by throwing a temper tantrum because of your unmet need/desire of positive press. Mr. Shitwood, This Country is not shitwood’s way or no way last time i checked!
Sheriff Shitwood (or as I’d like to call him Sheriff Lobo) fails to tell that the “sting” to catch “child predators” was done on a site meant for ADULTS 18+ ONLY. Sheriff Lobo fails to admit that these guys were NOT INITIALLY looking for teenagers but stayed talking AFTER a false age was revealed (14/15) because of possible desperation due to loneliness.
Sheriff Lobo should also have made it known that these men could be ANYONE, including the same men who like to go online and make comments about how they’d kill the S.O.B. that tries to do this to their kid.
11 were caught. How many others were not because they backed out? And how many of them were previously convicted sex offenders? Oh yeah – NONE OF THEM.
So, since most men WILL fall into the temptation, we’re eventually going to have the entire country on the SOR list. Then what?
This sting was brought to county residents by the same high sheriff who failed to protect real children from a real danger.
https://www.wesh.com/article/officials-intoxicated-man-with-pocket-knife-sits-down-in-port-orange-classroom-to-test-security/29310277
Seems like very clear entrapment to me. This is exactly the equivalent of a person who goes out for beer and a cop shows up and says, “hey, forget that, I have cocaine, want it?” The person keeps saying they are looking for beer and the cops keep offering cocaine. Clear entrapment. The person is looking for something legal and the cops are offering something illegal. Same thing if a person went to an ATM and a cop was hanging out there and said, “forget that, let’s rob the bank.” Entrapment.
I also have to think that these law enforcement agencies have way too much money and other resources. They would not be doing this type of “work” and creating “crimes” if there were any actual real crimes to try to prevent or solve. So there must not be much actual crime and they’ve therefore got too many people available to work. They have too many people on payroll.
I would encourage everyone to join groups that work hard to limit the money and other resources of these criminal law enforcement agencies. THAT is a great goal always no matter. We all know that these big government employees are overpaid. So let’s work hard to push their salaries, benefits, etc. down. We are the taxpayers who pay them. Join groups to limit their resources and put extreme oversight onto them. They are obviously out of control. Let’s control them and vote for politicians that will do the same.
For those of us not in the know, please list some of these “groups” that you speak of.
I may be interested in looking into them.
Sorry Will Allen, I’m a convicted felon. My right to vote was stolen at the same moment when my right to own a firearm was and at the same moment when i lost my right to due process because a federal agent committed perjury at my trial. Nobody in LE cared then, and they dont care now.
Bill, are you aware that the Constitution of the United States says NOTHING about a felony conviction taking away your right to own a firearm? The only thing the Constitution mentions in regards to not being able to own a firearm is an act of TREASON against your country. A felony can be something as harmless as trying to fudge your taxes. How does that make a person “dangerous” to not be able to own a gun? It doesn’t. This idea of the word “felon” meaning “dangerous” needs to be challenged and the actual Constitution wording needs to be addressed. We should be able to protect ourselves like anyone else can.
This sheriff is something else. Once again, listen to ALL THE AGENCIES that were involved. They will ALL get a piece of that pie in terms of the grant money. And the sheriff has no right to call these men “scumbags” when they have only been arrested and not had their day in court yet and are technically still innocent until proven otherwise. Just shows you the arrogance of the people that are involved in the criminal justice system. And I can tell you, they are ALL like this. Arrogant and cocky and narcissistic. Looks like they are on the prowl again. So everyone be careful online and on the apps.
Shitwood’s giving Grady Judd a run for his money, it looks like.
Grady Judd must be foaming with anger. ” How dare they try to copy or top me !! “.
Halloween is right around the corner. I’m sure Judd will have something special cooking up.
It’s no longer about saving so called “children.” It’s now also about saving so called “child-like” mannequins and dolls in Floriduh as the new criminal law prohibiting simple possession is in effect as of today. So, now Chitwood, Judd, and their ilk will have make up other strings to bust people for fictional crimes.
https://wjno.iheart.com/featured/florida-news/content/2019-09-30-child-like-sex-dolls-no-longer-legal-in-florida/
gotta keep the system running and what’s better than someone they knows not gonna be able to obtain proper Defence and they can feed off for life lol
On the one hand, it seems these guys would have done the deed with the underage people if they really existed. On the other hand, there was no crime because there is NO victim.
Having said that, I once argued that with my defense attorney and his answer shocked me. He compared it to terrorist who talk to the FBI about blowing up a building not knowing they are talking to cops. So like this scenario they both can be charged with conspiracy to commit a crime. ?
My thoughts? I read all these stories and they are charged with Traveling to meet a minor for sex. Again I do not condone that behavior but there was no real victim. They traveled to have sex with a cop pretending to be a minor. C’est La Vie
Yeah conspiracy is a broad brush the feds love to paint with. State not so much, but they will play the same scare tactics and they will be registered soon.
@ Cherokee,
The bar necessary to pass the subjective entrapment hurdle is unreasonably high in Florida.
The stings are not subjecting random Americans to entrapment necessarily. Objective Entrapment? Most certainly.
Do a public records search for any given county in Florida for violations of F.S. 847.0135(4) , also known as Traveling to Meet a Minor and you find that those that are committed WITHOUT the Law Enforcement stings is minimal. As low as one per year. Those resulting from stings is absurdly high. Combine that with 42 USC 17616 (https://law.onecle.com/uscode/42/17616.html) and the Objective becomes more clear.
A question to ask yourself regarding these people who have been/will be caught up in these operations is… would they have even considered doing anything of an illicit nature with a minor had the LEO not encouraged them ( repeatedly, sometimes aggressively) to do so?
Second question, how do you even know those arrested truly had intentions of doing anything with a minor? I know what the arrest papers and charges say but how true is it? Especially knowing that these stings didn’t exist before Federal funds and the need to raise the numbers in order to continue receiving grant money?
Just sayin…
Excellent Point.
I was neither sticking up for those caught nor judging them. I do not know what their thoughts or intentions were or what the officers said or did to entice them. I was just making a general chain of thought to do just what you did, make a line of conversations, communications with each other and share our thoughts on the matter.
If I guy is just walking down the street to get his childs baby formula and an undercover cop steps out and says ” Hey buddy want to buy some weed?” if the guy says sure, he gets arrested but that is entrapment. The guy agreed to buy the weed but it was not his idea until he was tricked into the enticement and the same thing may have happened with these men but we may never know all the facts. My point has always been is there is a lot of real crime going on that that manpower could be used for.
While the sting was going on, there were ( in theory ) homes being broken into, robberies taking place, and a kid getting kidnapped all of which went unsolved because there were not enough patrol or responding officers because they were all playing undercover detective.