MARION COUNTY, Fla. – Forty-eight men were recently arrested in a Florida undercover child sex predator sting called “Operation Seek and Yee Shall Find Out,” officials say.
6-day Marion County undercover operation
What we know:
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods hosted a news conference on Wednesday afternoon to announce the results of the operation. Woods was joined by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, State Attorney Bill Gladson and representatives from Sen. Ashley Moody’s office.
“Seek and Yee Shall Find Out” was a six-day undercover operation in Marion County, Florida. Officials said 48 men were arrested during the child sex predator sting.
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Authorities said the 48 men arrested used various social media platforms, including Snapchat and dating apps, to meet children in Marion County ranging in age from 13-15. The alleged predators brought cocaine, guns, condoms, alcohol, cash, marijuana and other drugs, investigators said.
Marion County child sex predator sting results
Multiple law enforcement officials gathered to host a press conference to announce the results of an undercover operation on Wednesday afternoon in Marion County. Forty people were arrested in the child sex predator sting called “Operation Seek and Yee Shall Find Out.”
Those arrested came from local locations, such as Gainesville and Orlando, as well as six foreign nationals from outside the country in places such as Mexico, El Salvador, India, Dubai and Jamaica. Officials even said one of the people arrested was a student from the University of Florida (UF) on a visa.
The men were arrested on numerous charges, including traveling to meet a minor for illegal sexual conduct, human trafficking, using a computer to solicit a child, unlawful use of a two-way communications device and transmitting material harmful to a minor.
The arrests were a collaboration between multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Florida Highway Patrol, the Lake City Police Department, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and the Ocala Police Department.
Forty-eight men were arrested during the undercover child sex predator sting. (Credit: Marion County Sheriff’s Office)
‘Heinous crimes’
What they’re saying:
Woods delivered a clear message to parents during the press conference.
“You need to pay attention to your children,” he said. “These crimes are heinous, and we do not tolerate these crimes. … You don’t want these operations to be successful, because you don’t want these crimes to occur.”
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“My office routinely conducts these types of operations,” Woods said. “With each operation, we catch more and more. The number of offenders only goes up. Parents, we will never arrest every single one of them. You have to know what your child is doing online. And children have to know what dangers are lurking online. As a sheriff and as a father, I understand the anger and disgust a parent has towards these types of individuals. I assure you that we will continue to attack this plague head-on.”
Uthmeier said he wants the alleged predators arrested to go away for “as long as possible,” before then, in some cases, being deported. He called technology and social media platforms the “tools of the devil.”
“There is no defense,” he said. “There is no justification, there is no excuse. It cannot happen, and it will not happen in Florida.”
The Source: This story was written based on information shared by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) in a news conference on July 30, 2025.
