35 Arrested in Child Sex Sting in Manatee County

Thirty-five people have been arrested in a sting operation in which they believed they were meeting up with a child for a sexual encounter, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office said Monday.

The week-long operation, dubbed "Operation Green Shepherd II," saw detectives going online to pose as juveniles and set up meetings at an undercover residence in Manatee. The operation wrapped midnight Monday (see accompanying video).

The following people were arrested on charges including travel to seduce/solicit/entice a child to commit a sexual act, use of computer to seduce/solicit/entice a child to commit a sexual act and attempted lews and lascivious:

• Erasmo Aguinaga, 34
• Brion Antwan Bennett, 19
• Earl Charles Bowman III, 50
• Ricardo Martinez Cantu, 61
• Dana Andrew Crawford-Law Jr., 27
• Robert Anton Dunn, 37
• Justin Lee Ferguson, 28
• Jackson Greenwood, 19
• Victoriano Ruyan Juarez, 31
• Michael Kinser, 19
• Daniel Konovalchuk, 20
• Phillip Gabe Kornell, 40
• Steven Andrew Lano, 20
• Tyler Jonathan Mahar, 22
• Nicholas Cody May, 25
• Alexander John McInnis, 29
• Renald Mesidor, 29
• Stuard Antonio Meythaler, 31
• Oliver B. Paul, 46
• Keith Taylor Rados, 23
• Julio C. Rodriguez, 25
• Hector L. Rodriguez, 49
• Scott Anthony Ryan, 22
• Genesis Sanchez, 19
• Santiago Sanchez-Jaramillo, 19
• Dustin Smith, 31
• Octavio Hernan Soto Toro, 41
• Ronald Roy Sunny, 48
• Gregory Scott Tefft Jr., 32
• Brian Lee Thomas, 48
• Matthew Ryan Trottier, 26
• Ryan Devin Vartanian, 26
• Christopher Scott Wysman, 33
• Stephen Bryan Yates, 34

The sheriff's office credited the following agencies with assisting in the investigation: the Department of Homeland Security; Florida Department of Law Enforcement; Bradenton, Sanford and St. Petersburg police departments; and the Sarasota, Polk, Lee, Seminole, Hardee County sheriff’s offices.

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