US Marshals Say More Than 100 Sex Offenders Arrested in Florida Operation

A month-long campaign has resulted in the arrest of more than 100 registered sex offenders across a Florida county in another federal anti-crime operation, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

Officers involved in “Operation Silver Spur” arrested 126 offenders for “registration violations and other criminal offenses,” the U.S. Marshals said in a press release published on Monday.

Officials and local Florida law enforcement also carried out “compliance verifications” of 231 offenders and arrested two people for criminal charges unrelated to sex offenses.

In the operation, U.S. Marshals deputies and Osceola County Sheriff’s officials initiated sex-offender compliance checks across the county and investigated registered sex offenders who reside there, according to the release.

The U.S. Marshals said that four offenders were arrested twice on separate offenses during the operation, which lasted from June 1 to June 30 and focused on Osceola County, Florida. Two out-of-state fugitive arrests were also conducted, it added.

According to the agency, one individual was arrested after he was identified as the subject of a warrant that was triggered by an investigation in Marion County, Florida, for Internet-related crimes against children. He was charged with several child exploitation counts and also with violating the conditions of his sex-offender probation, it said.

In another example provided by the U.S. Marshals, officials found that another person who was later arrested had been allegedly operating “an unreported Instagram account in violation of Florida’s sex offender registration requirements.”

It was later determined by investigators that evidence collected in connection to the Instagram “account had been altered after his arrest,” according to the news release, which added that more charges were filed against the subject including gun charges, providing false evidence to law enforcement, and evidence-tampering. Fifteen electronic devices and a handgun were also seized when a search warrant was executed at the person’s residence.

“Operation Silver Spur demonstrates what can be accomplished when federal, state, and local law enforcement work together to protect our communities,” said U.S. Marshal Bill Berger for the Middle District of Florida, which was involved in the sting, in a statement. “Locating and arresting convicted sex offenders who fail to comply with registration requirements remains one of the highest priorities of the U.S. Marshals Service.”

The announcement comes after the Department of Justice, which runs the U.S. Marshals, said earlier in July that three missing children and 224 fugitives were located across eastern Missouri and southern Illinois as part of a separate anti-crime sting.

And last week, the federal agency told local media outlets that the service and local law enforcement agencies located and apprehended 32 wanted individuals around the Midland and Odessa, Texas, region from June 29 to July 2.