A 38-year-old Citrus County man who was caught in an undercover operation targeting child predators has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
On February 5, State Attorney William M. Gladson announced that Glenn Talmage Cunningham has been sentenced to 25 years in the Florida Department of Corrections, followed by five years of probation.
Last month, jurors found Cunningham guilty on four counts of transmission of harmful material to a minor and two counts of computer pornography to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child to engage in any illegal act.
Cunningham had failed to appear for his trial, which resulted in an arrest warrant being issued after jurors rendered their guilty verdict. Five days later, Cunningham was located and arrested in Marion County.
According to court records, in March of 2023, Cunningham was arrested by Citrus County Sheriff’s Office deputies during the agency’s undercover operation called Operation Lucky Strike. This operation was aimed at apprehending internet cyber predators who attempted to engage in sexual activity with a child.
As part of the operation, law enforcement officers posed as minors on websites as they waited to be solicited through online messages by child predators. The predators would send sexually explicit pictures, messages, and detailed requests of various sexual acts that they wanted to perform with the child.
During Operation Lucky Strike, undercover officers were contacted by Cunningham. He had knowingly texted and called who he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, and he proceeded to send two “graphic images.”
Cunningham then continuously contacted the decoy posing as the 14-year-old girl. The officers involved in the operation determined that there was enough evidence to arrest Cunningham.
After an arrest warrant was issued, CCSO deputies located Cunningham. He told investigators that he believed he was speaking to an adult, despite the “numerous pieces of evidence” showing that he acknowledged in a chat forum and text messages that the decoy was only 14 years of age.
While speaking with investigators, Cunningham admitted to sending “pornographic images of male anatomy” to the decoy.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Blake Shore and Elizabeth Colombrito.