Last month, former Red Sox pitcher Austin Maddox was arrested in an anti-child predator sting operation conducted in Florida. Maddox is facing seven felony charges for his alleged attempt to meet up with, who he assumed was a 14-year-old minor, and engage in sexual acts.
Reportedly, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office conducted a five-day investigation called “Operation Valiant Knights.” The results of the operation claimed that 27 men were under the impression they were communicating with underage girls online, who were actually detectives.
Sheriff T.K. Waters delivered a statement about the operation during a Monday press conference, where he called out Maddox for his involvement. Law enforcement released footage of the ex-MLB player’s arrest, which shows officers tackling him to the ground outside of his truck.
“Today, we announced the outcomes of a successful multi agency investigation focused on identifying and arresting those who use the internet to sexually exploit children. Operation Valiant Knights. This operation resulted in the arrest of 27 men who solicited sexual contact from people who they believed to be children,” the sheriff said.
Waters praised the number of different individuals and agencies who collaborated to take down the over two dozen alleged child predators. Everyone from local law enforcement officers to members of the FBI assisted in the operation.
“The success of this operation exemplifies a strong law enforcement partnerships with our local, state and federal law enforcement agencies here in Northeast Florida during this multi agency operation, … worked together with investigators and agents from the following agencies whose agency heads are represented and stand on stage with me today. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the intercept Task Force, the Naval Criminal Investigative Services, Chair of Cook from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Hardwick from the St Johns County Sheriff’s Office, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, US Marshal Service, Mike Williams from FTL Li, the State Attorney’s Office and the US Attorney’s Office,” he continued.
The sheriff outlined the mission in the sting operation of and how the arrests were carried out, stating, “The objective of this operation was to identify and arrest suspects who solicit children to engage in sexual acts using electronic devices. Under undercover detectives posing as children chatting online with these adults. These adults solicited sexual activity and committed to engaging in sex acts with purported minors at pre-arranged locations. Once these adults arrived at these locations to meet these minors, they were immediately arrested.” Watch footage of Maddox’s arrest below:
He added that the alleged predators were a diverse demographic of individuals, with varying age ranges, races, and backgrounds, as demonstrated by the former professional athlete being included in the list of those arrested.
Waters said, “24 child predators who traveled to meet minors were arrested during this operation. And three additional betters were arrested after follow-up investigations were conducted. The men arrested range in age from 19 to 69 years old. As you can see from these photographs, these men run the gamut of ages, backgrounds and races.”
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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