Carmelo Acevedo, 50, of Celebration, was arrested after St. Cloud police say he arranged via the Badoo app to meet who he believed was a 14-year-old girl in St. Cloud.
Men arrested in child predator stings
Three Central Florida men face felony charges after investigators say they attempted to meet children for sex during separate undercover operations.
According to arrest affidavits, the stings were conducted by the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, St. Cloud Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) as part of ongoing efforts to identify and apprehend individuals who use the internet to exploit children.
Investigators say Manuel Antonio Ortiz, 31, of Wimauma, responded to a decoy profile created by HSI in April and continued conversations through text messages and phone calls even after being told he was communicating with a 13-year-old girl. Detectives said Ortiz discussed meeting in person, sent photos of himself and confirmed identifying details through his phone number, which was later traced to his residence. Ortiz was arrested Sept. 5 and charged with using a computer to solicit a minor and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
Carmelo Acevedo, 50, of Celebration, was arrested after St. Cloud police say he arranged via the Badoo app to meet who he believed was a 14-year-old girl in St. Cloud. Police said Acevedo took a Lyft from his home to a St. Cloud apartment complex where he was taken into custody. Officers confirmed his phone contained the undercover contact information. He was charged with traveling to meet a minor and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
Davenport security guard charged with sending woman’s private videos to himself
A 23-year-old Davenport man working as a residential security guard has been arrested after Osceola County Sheriff’s deputies say he accessed a woman’s phone under the guise of helping her with a malfunctioning gate pass and secretly sent her private sexual videos to himself.
According to a sheriff’s arrest affidavit, the incident happened just after 3 p.m. Friday at the gated Oasis Club at ChampionsGate community, where the victim is employed. The woman told deputies her digital gate pass was not working properly, and on-duty security officer Elijah Muhammad Bentley-Jones offered to examine her phone.
The victim told deputies that Bentley-Jones took her phone into the security booth for several minutes, and she later found that her Messenger app had been accessed. Reports said the victim determined that two intimate videos of herself had been transmitted to a phone number and another video had been queued to send before she was able to cancel it.
The victim texted the number, demanding an explanation. The recipient at first denied involvement but was later connected to Bentley-Jones through a CashApp profile photo. Deputies reviewed the files and confirmed they showed the victim engaged in sexual activity with her partner. When confronted at the Oasis Club security booth, Bentley-Jones allegedly confessed to accessing the victim’s photo album and intentionally sending the videos to his own number. He was arrested and charged with two counts of sexual cyberharassment; one count of computer crimes – unauthorized access/use; and one count of interception/use of communications.
Homeless man arrested in Dollar Tree armed robbery
A 29-year-old homeless man has been arrested after deputies say he robbed a Dollar Tree store in Kissimmee at gunpoint Sept. 4, fleeing with cash before being tracked down near the Poinciana Library.
According to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to the Dollar Tree on Cypress Parkway, about 9 p.m. in response to an armed robbery. Investigators said an employee was working behind the register when a man in a green hoodie and black-and-white face mask approached, pulled back the slide on a black handgun and demanded money. When a manager arrived and unlocked the register, the clerk handed over cash and the suspect ran out of the store.
Hours later, deputies responding to an unrelated call near the Poinciana Library spotted a man matching the description of the suspect identified as Dylan Prosser. He was detained and later confessed to the robbery, according to an arrest report.
Prosser was booked into the Osceola County Jail on charges of robbery with a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; and petit theft. A records check showed Prosser is a convicted felon, barred from possessing a firearm. Deputies also recovered $398 from his pocket, which he said came from work.
Kissimmee registered sex offender arrested in for soliciting minor online
A 50-year-old Kissimmee man who is a registered sex offender was arrested this week after authorities said he used social media to solicit a 13-year-old male child in Colorado.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday that Daniel Brent Hartley, 50, was taken into custody at his home in the Reserve at Doral Woods community.
The case began when the Broomfield Police Department in Colorado interviewed a child who reported being contacted on Snapchat by a man identified as “Dan.” Investigators said the suspect engaged in explicit conversations with the child, solicited nude photographs and sent nude images of himself.
The Sheriff’s Internet Crimes Against Children unit launched an investigation and identified the suspect as Hartley, who is currently on state probation for a 2012 conviction in Palm Beach County involving unlawful sexual activity with a minor.
Detectives executed a search warrant at Hartley’s residence and seized multiple electronic devices for forensic review. They also discovered an unreported internet identifier, which authorities said is a violation of Florida’s sexual offender registry requirements.
Hartley is charged with possession of photo/video of sexual performance by a child; two counts of transmission of harmful material to a minor; solicitation of a minor; unlawful use of two-way communication device, failure of a sexual offender to report internet identifier; and violation of probation. He was booked into the Osceola County Jail with no bond and made an initial appearance in front of an Osceola County judge Friday.
Investigators urge anyone with information related to this case or similar incidents to call the Sheriff’s Office at 407-348-2222.
