From Friday, June 1st, through Sunday, June 10th, 2012, a total of 38 adult males were arrested and charged with traveling to meet a minor for sex and other crimes during Operation Cyber Child, an extensive undercover operation conducted by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, as the Central Florida Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Coordinator.  

The 10-day-long operation included detectives and agents from the following agencies: Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE); U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security; Casselberry P.D.; Hardee County S.O.; Lake County S.O.; Manatee County S.O.; Mt Dora P.D.; North Port P.D.; Ocoee P.D.; Orange County S.O.; Orlando P.D.;  Osceola County S.O.; Sarasota County S.O.; St. Petersburg P.D.; working in conjunction with members of the State Attorney’s Office along with Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.  

This is the 9th such operation conducted by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Central Florida ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) task force coordinator. 

During the operation, undercover detectives posted fictitious ads or profiles on various websites (such as Craigslist) posing as children, or as custodians of children. Despite the repeated warnings and media coverage of past operations, numerous men responded to the ads and then proceeded to chat online, email, text, and talk on the phone with the undercover detectives who posed as children online. The suspects solicited for sex acts, sent pornographic pictures and live web-cam images of themselves, and asked for nude photos of the children to be sent to them. Several of the men drove to the house to follow through with the promises made online to engage in sexual activity with the juveniles.  

Of significance is the arrest of 43-year-old Matthew Chillcott, who is a 5th grade teacher at Lawton Chiles Elementary School in Orlando, and who has been chatting online with an undercover Casselberry Police detective since January 2012. During this operation, he continued to chat with the detective, who was posing as a 14-year-old girl, and agreed to travel to the undercover location to have sex with the girl. In addition to being a teacher, he also told detectives he is a youth soccer coach. 

Detectives also arrested Registered Sex Offender 31-year-old Wilson Silva of Brooksville, who has been registered since 2001 out of Hernando County. Silva responded to a fictitious ad posted on Craigslist by an undercover Mount Dora Police detective posing as the stepmother of a 14-year-old girl. He offered to come to the undercover location to teach the girl how to have fun with sex.  

The following 38 suspects were arrested during Operation Cyber Child