LAKE CITY, Fla. – Four men were arrested after an Internet Crimes Against Children operation by Lake City Police Department detectives that targeted people who tried to exploit children online, the department said Tuesday.
Detectives working with the ICAC task force posted undercover advertisements on a website often used to arrange sexual encounters and posed as teenage girls. Investigators said multiple suspects engaged in sexually explicit conversations with people they believed were minors. As the probe progressed, detectives identified and arrested four suspects.
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Arrested were:
- James Michael Diehl, 62, of Fort White;
- Alan Wayne Price, 39, of Lake City;
- Albert David Moore, 67, of Live Oak; and
- Thomas J. Fortune, 40, of Jacksonville.
The suspects face charges including using electronic communication devices to facilitate unlawful sexual conduct involving minors, transmitting harmful material to minors and solicitation-related offenses. Some arrests also included charges of traveling to meet a child after using a computer to lure a child, authorities said. Additional charges are possible as detectives continue reviewing digital evidence.
“Operations like this are critical to protecting children from online predators who use the internet to target minors,” Lake City Police Chief Gerald Butler said, thanking the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for their assistance.
The investigation is active and additional arrests are possible. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Lake City Police Department at (386) 752-4343, the anonymous LCPD TIPS line at (386) 719-2068, or Crime Stoppers of Columbia County at (386) 754-7099.