A weeklong child sex sting ends with a dozen arrests in St. Johns County.
The St. Johns County Sheriff says the suspects range from 21- to 60-years-old and traveled to have sex with victims they believed to be 12 to 16-year-old males and females. They were actually communicating online with undercover detectives posing as juveniles.
“If we can deter just one or two people, I think it’s vitally important,” says St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar.
Five or six additional suspects came close to showing up, but Shoar says they backed out at the last minute.
Those arrested come from St. Johns County, Jacksonville, Palm Coast, Gainesville, and even Georgia. Shoar says one of the suspects is a pharmacy tech who showed up with drugs to “calm” his victim. Another man showed up in a military uniform and claimed to be a veteran. Still another had a college scholarship in basketball.
“You get this cast of characters, and why they keep doing this, I don’t know,” says Shoar.
Shoar says one of their suspects already had an active warrant out of Georgia for molesting a minor and incest. Otherwise, he says none of the suspects had previously been arrested for child sex crimes, although he doubts they hadn’t done something before.
“The question you wind up wondering is how many of these did they get away with,” Shoar says.
This is the third time the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office has conducted Operation “End of the Road” in the last five years, and Shoar says they will keep doing it as long as it takes to put an end to this crime.
“If it’s protecting our children in any way, shape, or form, we will all drop what we are doing to do that,” Shoar says.
He says you need to actively monitor your child’s online communication and talk with them about the dangers that exist in order to prevent them from becoming victims.
The operation was done in conjunction with the FBI, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, St. Augustine Police Department, Clay County Sheriff's Office, Volusia County Sheriff's Office, Alachua County Sheriff's Office, Nassau County Sheriff's Office, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, Orange Park Police, Gainesville Police Department, and the State Attorney's Office of the 7th District.
Those arrested are:
-Adam Tucker Driggers, 31, unemployed, Palm Coast- travel to meet minor for sex, unlawful use of two-way communication device
-Charles Arthur Thompson, 35, stocker, St. Augustine- travel to meet minor for sex, use of computer to solicit child for sex, unlawful use of two-way communication device
-Corey Richard Sinnott, 31, deli prep, St. Augustine- travel to meet minor for sex, use of computer to solicit child for sex, unlawful use of two-way communication device
-David Lawrence Kausch III, 25, cook, St. Augustine- travel to meet minor for sex, use of computer to solicit child for sex, unlawful use of two-way communication device
-James Willard Goodwin, 60, disabled, St. Augustine- travel to meet minor for sex, unlawful use of two-way communication device
-Travon Carnell White-Thomas, 22, Sailor, Jacksonville- travel to meet minor for sex, use of computer to solicit child for sex, unlawful use of two-way communication device
-Jeremy Lee Hughes, 41, Uber driver, Brunswick- travel to meet minor for sex, two counts of use of computer to solicit child for sex, unlawful use of two-way communication device
-Keaton Richard Cernin, 25, law maintenance, St. Augustine- travel to meet minor for sex, three counts of use of computer to solicit child for sex, unlawful use of two-way communication device, transmit harmful material to minor
-Kevin Michael Philippi, 26, framer, St. Augustine- travel to meet minor for sex, use of computer to solicit child for sex, unlawful use of two-way communication device
-Lee Mark Davis, 22, security engineer, St. Augustine- travel to meet minor for sex, unlawful use of two-way communication device
-Matthew Bryan Caniff, 32, pharmacy tech, Gainesville- travel to meet minor for sex, use of computer to solicit child for sex, unlawful use of two-way communication device, promoting sexual performance by a child, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription
-Oscar Aster Cabrera-Adames, 21, student, Daytona Beach- travel to meet minor for sex, unlawful use of two-way communication device
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