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Ocala
Thursday, March 28, 2024

20 men arrested in Marion County child sex sting operation

A recent online sting operation led by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, led to the arrests of 20 men who were looking to have sex with children.

During the five-day operation, which was called “M.A.P. Mirage,” undercover law enforcement officers exchanged messages with multiple men who were seeking to engage in sexual activity with children. According to MCSO, these conversations were sexually explicit and graphically described the various sexual acts that they hoped to perform with the children.

MAP Mirage Mugshot Poster
These 20 suspects were arrested during a five-day online sting operation that was led by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office

The sheriff’s office stated that 14 of these men traveled to locations in Marion County expecting to meet a child between the ages of 14 and 16 for sexual activity. When they arrived at an arranged meeting place, they were arrested by law enforcement officers.

An additional nine men did not travel to meet a child, though they engaged in online communications while seeking to have sex with a child, and some of them sent sexually explicit photos to a person that they believed was a child. Out of these nine men, six were arrested by law enforcement and the remaining three suspects have active felony warrants for their arrest.

“I am disgusted and dismayed that there are people in this world who seek to harm innocent children,” stated Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods. “I will never stop devoting every resource I have at my disposal to bring to justice anyone trying to harm a child in my county. I am grateful for the dedication of each participant in this operation and their work to get these vile individuals into my jail.”

MCSO thanked for the following agencies for their assistance during this operation: ICAC North Florida Task Force, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, Belleview Police Department, Ocala Police Department, Gainesville Police Department, Citrus County Sheriff’s Office, and Leon County Sheriff’s Office.

Below are the men who were arrested during Operation “M.A.P. Mirage,” along with the charges they are facing:

Chad Eric Giffin, 47, of Ocala

  • Travel to meet after use of computer to lure a minor.
  • Use of computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
  • Unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
  • Transmission of material harmful to a minor (five counts).

Donald Dziadyk, 63, of Citra

  • Use of computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
  • Unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
  • Sex offender violation – failure to report email address internet identifiers.

Donald Nelson Tackett, 62, of Ocala

  • Travel to meet after use of computer to lure a minor.
  • Use of computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
  • Unlawful use of a two-way communication device.

Dustin Wagoner Carlisle, 39, of Ocala

  • Travel to meet after use of computer to lure a minor.
  • Use of computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
  • Unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
  • Transmission of material harmful to a minor.

Fredy Antonio Orellana Seranno, 23, of Ocala

  • Travel to meet after use of computer to lure a minor.
  • Use of computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
  • Unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
  • Drive with a suspended/revoked license.

Gabriel Cotto, 37, of Ocala

  • Travel to meet after use of computer to lure a minor.
  • Use of computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
  • Unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
  • Transmission of material harmful to a minor.

Jeffrey James Schwartz, Jr., 41, unknown city/state

  • Travel to meet after use of computer to lure a minor.
  • Use of computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
  • Transmission of material harmful to a minor.
  • Unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
  • Direct or promote sexual performance by a child.

Jeremy Robert Merritt, 42, of Citrus Springs

  • Travel to meet after use of computer to lure a minor.
  • Use of computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
  • Unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
  • Transmission of material harmful to a minor.

Justin Matthew Goodreau, 34, of Ocala

  • Travel to meet after use of computer to lure a minor.
  • Use of computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
  • Unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
  • Possession of cocaine.
  • Possession of marijuana (under 20 grams).

Billy Joe Luecke, 79, of Brooksville

  • Direct or promote sexual performance by a child.
  • Transmission of material harmful to a minor.

Jerry Leon Guyton, 30, of Ocala

  • Travel to meet after use of computer to lure a minor.
  • Use of computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
  • Unlawful use of a two-way communication device.

Kyle Ernest Hunt, 22, of Dunnellon

  • Transmission of material harmful to a minor (four counts).
  • Use of computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
  • Unlawful use of a two-way communication device.

Luis Eduardo Franco, 35, of Ocala

  • Travel to meet after use of computer to lure a minor.
  • Use of computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
  • Unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
  • Direct or promote sexual performance by a child.
  • Transmission of material harmful to a minor (two counts).

Robert James Lewis, 32, of Ocala

  • Transmission of material harmful to a minor (four counts).
  • Direct or promote sexual performance by a child.

Roland Adrian Anderson, 41, of Orlando

  • Travel to meet after use of computer to lure a minor.
  • Use of computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
  • Unlawful use of a two-way communication device.

Timothy Michael Read, 34, of Ocala

  • Use of computer to seduce/solicit or lure a child.
  • Unlawful use of a two-way communication device.

Trent Levi Green, 28, of Inverness

  • Travel to meet after use of computer to lure a minor.
  • Use of computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
  • Unlawful use of a two-way communication device.

Victor Aguilar, 31, of Orlando

  • Travel to meet after use of computer to lure a minor.
  • Use of computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
  • Unlawful use of a two-way communication device.

William Andrew Green, 28, of Jacksonville

  • Travel to meet after use of computer to lure a minor.
  • Use of computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
  • Unlawful use of a two-way communication device.

Troy Dion Carnahan, 52, of Morriston

  • Use of computer to seduce, solicit, or lure a child.
  • Transmission of material harmful to a minor.
  • Unlawful use of a two-way communication device.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office stated that Operation “M.A.P. Mirage” is an ongoing investigation, and additional arrests are expected. This is the third online sting operation that has been led by MCSO – the previous operations were conducted in 2021 and 2022, and both were deemed a success by the sheriff’s office.