30 people arrested in Sarasota County child sex sting operation

SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. - Sarasota County Sheriff’s deputies have arrested 30 in a sex sting designed to protect children from online predators.

Dubbed Operation Intercept II, undercover detectives responded to suspects who thought they were arranging to have sex with children.

All of the suspects used social media sites or the Internet to engage in sexually explicit conversations.  Ultimately, those conversations led the suspects to arrange meetings for sex with who they thought were children.  When the suspects arrived, detectives arrested them.

“This was our second operation to see what criminals prowled the Internet for the purpose of sexually exploiting children,” said Sheriff Tom Knight.  “We saw some frightening things that parents need to be aware of to properly protect their kids.”

In a release, detectives said one suspect used a GPS dating App and other suspected posted an ad for young girls.

ABC Action News has a crew gathering more information on this sting.  Look for updates later today.