A tax accountant who serves as a church deacon, a youth football coach, a Disney World costume designer and a Dunedin retiree were among 41 people arrested during a weeklong Polk County sting targeting online sexual predators, officials said.
Those arrested included suspects from Wisconsin, Georgia and Alabama who investigators said traveled to a Polk undercover location to have sex with who they thought were 13- to 15-year-old boys and girls, the sheriff’s office said.
The 40 men and one woman responded to ads and chatted with undercover investigators on social media sites, including Backpage and Craigslist. The operation ended Sunday.
Suspects came from a variety of social and economic backgrounds. Eleven admitted they were married. They ranged in age from 65-year-old Floyd Edward Weir, of Dunedin, to 18-year-old Erin Vickers, who accompanied her 35-year-old boyfriend to meet with a 14-year-old girl, deputies said.
Weir, of 186 Skylock Drive W., brought sex toys, pillows and lubricant to an expected meeting with a 14-year-old, deputies said. He faces charges of traveling to meet a minor, use of computer to solicit a child, unlawful use of two-way communication device and attempted lewd battery.
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