On Thursday, April 22, 2010, nearly one year after the first “Operation Child Shield,” in which 45 suspects were arrested, Polk County Sheriff’s Computer Crimes detectives added another 50 suspects to the Polk County Jail during “Operation Child Shield II.”

Twenty-one (21) of the 50 suspects were arrested from July 2009 through March 2010, when detectives served search warrants at their residences and found they had routine access to children as well. As a precaution, these men were arrested and investigated to determine if any of the children they had access to had been sexually abused. Tragically, 4 of these men and one woman had been sexually abusing children, in addition to creating and downloading child pornography: Daryl McClelland, Richard Nobles, Ricky Bailey, Jodi Vinson and Angel Pizarro. Fortunately, as a result of this investigation, the children they victimized (8 victims so far have been identified and/or have come forward) will no longer be hurt by these five suspects. Some of the 21 suspects have already been sentenced to state prison, and some are awaiting trial in the Polk County Jail.

All 29 of the remaining suspects were arrested on the final day of Operation Child Shield II, on April 22, 2010. These suspects’ computers were previously seized and were found to have contained child pornography and/or evidence that the suspects had illegally downloaded or traded child pornography online. Charges ranged from 1 to 50 counts Possession of Child Pornography. Most of those arrested had in their possession more pornography images than they were charged with - actual charges were limited to 40 or 50 counts, more than enough to ensure effective prosecution. The images located by detectives included victims ranging in age from 6 months old to 12 years of age.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is the Central Florida Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Coordinator, due to its reputation for taking an active lead in investigations such as this.

“During past child pornography investigations, locating child pornographers with thousands of images wasn’t difficult – but finding child victims was,” says Sheriff Grady Judd. “I’m pleased with the hard work of our detectives, who were able to save 8 children during this operation who were actively being exploited and abused, or had the potential of being abused again. Every time a child sex abuse or exploitation image is downloaded, that child is again victimized. And, tragically, some of these suspects are also physically abusing children as well.”

The following suspects were arrested during the first part of Operation Child Shield II: 

Richard Nobles, DOB 2/24/73, incarcerated since 7/10/09

Jacob Kennedy, DOB 8/25/87, sentenced to 3 years state prison

Ricky Bailey, DOB 5/9/80, incarcerated since 9/1/09

Jodi Vinson, DOB 9/30/75, incarcerated since 9/1/09

Brian Jennings, DOB 1/17/81, incarcerated since 9/25/09

Sergio Sierra, DOB 10/6/65, arrested on 10/1/09

Delbert Melody, DOB 3/10/65, sentenced to 5 years state prison

Timothy Smith, DOB 4/22/85, sentenced to 5 years probation

Christopher Mitchell, DOB 11/15/82, sentenced to 7 years state prison

James Piedra, DOB 2/19/69, incarcerated since 11/3/09

Mark Kephart, DOB 5/14/74, incarcerated since 10/21/09

Andrew Howard, DOB 8/27/78, incarcerated since 10/26/09

Angel Pizarro, DOB 6/7/71, incarcerated since 10/27/09

William Perry, Jr., DOB 12/14/84, incarcerated since 11/20/09

Stephen Daddio, DOB 2/22/62, sentenced to 5 years state prison

Daryl McClelland, DOB 3/31/54, incarcerated since 1/22/10

Robert Cloud, DOB 5/22/77, sentenced to 5 years state prison

Gordon Hillman, DOB 8/21/58, incarcerated since 2/26/10

Christopher Davis, DOB 8/21/58, incarcerated since 3/3/10

Marcus Johnson, DOB 3/26/85, incarcerated since 3/3/10

Terry Williamson, DOB 3/24/56, incarcerated since 3/3/10 

Below please see a list of suspects who were arrested this morning, April 22, 2010, during the end of Operation Child Shield II. 

Previous Operations: Operation Sentinel, which took place from January to March 2007, resulted in the arrests of 11 men on March 8, 2007. Operation Defender, which took place from October 2007 to February 2008, resulted in the arrests of 21 men on March 20, 2008. Operation Protector, which took place from September to October 2008, resulted in the arrests of 14 men on October 30, 2008. Operation Child Shield, which took place from February to May 2009, resulted in the arrests of 45 men on May 28, 2009. In all, PCSO detectives have arrested 141 suspects for possession and/or distribution of child pornography since 2007.

The following 29 suspects were taken into custody on April 22, 2010, during the last day of Operation Child Shield II:

*Timothy Rea was arrested in Savannah, Georgia.  Stephen Kaczmarski was arrested at his job as a security guard at the Isleworth Country Club in Orlando, and is in the Orange County Jail. Tim Lakin turned himself in to the Polk County Jail.