Overview
- Law enforcement announced Thursday that a five-day undercover operation called Operation Bad Habits led to 58 arrests across Marion County and beyond.
- Investigators used fake social media profiles and detectives who posed as children aged about 7 to 15 to elicit sexually explicit messages and arrange in-person meetings.
- Multiple local, state and federal agencies took part, including the Marion, Columbia and Polk county sheriff’s offices, the Florida Attorney General’s office, FDLE, FHP, the FBI, U.S. Marshals and Homeland Security.
- Several suspects face human trafficking counts for attempting to buy children for sex, and some arrestees are community figures such as teachers, youth coaches and parents with ages reported from 16 to 65.
- Officials said arrests are only the next step and that prosecutions, court filings and further investigation will follow, a process that could reveal more charges and community impact.