TALHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) – Attorney General James Usmier has released his findings in a critical state survey, including child predators and social media.
In a multi-agency initiative, state and federal officials have arrested six individuals and planned to arrest two more.
“There are people here who have illegal motives to want to hurt a child,” Usmier said.
Uthmeier vows to continue fighting for his Florida family, but added that parents should also wake up.
“If you don’t know what your child is doing on your phone, if you don’t know which apps to access, you need to go home and understand that,” Uthmeier says.
Since the new Attorney General took office in February, Uthmeier said the state has locked in nearly 100 child predators and is not planning to stop anytime soon.
“If you’re thinking about getting online and chatting with minors, it might not be a minor. It could be a law enforcement officer, so we’re doing these businesses,” Franklin County Sheriff AJ Smith said.
Eight predators, part of Florida, and part of the state, as far away as Washington, are now accused of using the internet to prey on minors.
The three-night operation took place in July, with six individuals arrested and all accused of planning to meet with the child, attempting to trafficke or in harmful communication with minors, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
“In Florida, there’s zero tolerance. You’re going after our kids. We’re going after you. Now I have an agent in another state that’s trying to find one of these assailants to put them on trial,” said Fdle Commissioner Mark Glass.
And the efforts of state officials to protect their children online should not end there.
“We have passed laws suing courts to prevent young teenagers and young children from accessing social media apps such as Snapchat, Tiktok and Facebook,” Uthmeier said.
But the law faces a huge pushback with groups challenging it by saying it’s unconstitutional and the government is going too far.
But even with backlash, lawmakers continue to create laws surrounding social media concerns.
This year, like former state senator Blaze Ingoglia, state leaders have surfaced laws requiring social media companies to disable data encryption to help law enforcement gather access to information, particularly when tracking child predators. However, the bill never reached the finish line.
