JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sheriff T.K. Waters announced Thursday that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office arrested 29 people in a multi‑agency child predator investigation called ‘Operation Checkmate.’
Waters said the undercover five‑day operation began April 27 and ended May 2. Detectives posed as children online to identify adults who solicited sex, then arrested those who arranged to meet purported minors at prearranged locations, he said.
Waters said the men arrested so far range in age from 22 to 72 and face felony charges including sexually motivated offenses and unlawful use of electronic devices. Waters said detectives expect additional arrests as they follow up on leads developed during the operation.
Waters named several people arrested in the sting, including:
- Zachary Stitz, 49, was previously designated a sex offender after a 2021 conviction in Hillsborough County for using a computer to lure a child;
- Jacob Futch, 29, previously arrested in a 2019 JSO operation in which he pleaded to a third‑degree felony for unlawful use of a two‑way communications device, served probation and later violated it;
- Mikal Detoro, 44, was a Clay County youth wrestling coach who drove to a prearranged location and whose vehicle was found outfitted with cameras, blankets and what investigators described as sexual paraphernalia. Detectives are conducting forensic searches of cameras and memory cards seized from the vehicle.
Waters said five of the people arrested are in the country illegally and have Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers. One man was reported to have an active deportation order prior to his arrest.
Other people named by Waters included Terry Rivers, 34, who had been released from state prison in Oct. 2024 after serving 17 years for armed robbery. John Mullins, 61, a manager of a Jacksonville events company who was arrested for allegedly soliciting a boy.
“JSO puts the highest priority on the safety and security of our children as the internet provides new and frightening opportunities for predators to victimize our children,” Waters said. “[We] will continue to proactively identify and apprehend our child predators before they have an opportunity to act upon their perversions.”
The full list of the arrested men is on JSO’s X account.
29 men and counting are facing criminal charges after they chatted online with who they thought were young teens for sex. On the other end of the conversations? Undercover detectives who were part of Operation Checkmate.
— Jax Sheriff's Office (@JSOPIO) June 18, 2026
Over the course of five days beginning in late April, our… pic.twitter.com/HjA0S06TUr
Waters declined to discuss specific online platforms or investigative tactics to avoid revealing law enforcement methods. He urged parents to monitor what their children are viewing and who they are communicating with online, noting that many children use phones in bed and that parents should pay attention to the times and content of those interactions.
“Just be alert, be aware, pay attention to what’s going on,” Waters said. “My kids are adults, but my grandkids aren’t, so it worries me. I want to make sure that we keep everyone that we can safe.”
He said that it’s been frustrating knowing that some of the men have been arrested for similar offenses in the past.
“I think you should put them all in prison forever. That’s just my opinion. Oh, we get rid of them completely because my experience tells me that they can’t be cured. And if you get one, you interview them. If they’re honest with you, they’ll tell you they can’t be cured. They’re probably in the safest place that they can be,” he said.