Twenty-seven men were arrested in an undercover sting operation in Jacksonville, Florida, targeting individuals using the internet to solicit sex acts with children. Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters announced the results of the operation, named “Valiant Knights,” during a press conference.
Undercover detectives posed as children online, engaging with adults who solicited sexual activity and arranged to meet purported minors at pre-arranged locations. Upon arrival, the suspects were arrested immediately, resulting in 24 arrests, with three additional arrests following a subsequent investigation.
The arrested individuals ranged in age from 19 to 69 and came from various backgrounds. The charges against them included serious felonies such as coercing sexual activity for human trafficking. Among those arrested was Kevin Pearce, a 58-year-old former Duval County Public Schools district maintenance employee.
Another notable arrest was that of Austin Maddox, a former Major League Baseball player for the Boston Red Sox. Maddox had played college baseball for the University of Florida and spent six years in the minor leagues before being called up to the Red Sox in 2017. He retired from baseball in 2020 after dealing with injury issues.
Matthew Moses, 36, was arrested after believing he was communicating with a stepmother who would allow him to have sex with her stepdaughter. Christopher Brand, 69, was also apprehended for soliciting what he thought was a 14-year-old girl for sex.
Chad Sadlowski, a 33-year-old respiratory therapist at the Mayo Clinic, was among those arrested. Sadlowski lived about a mile from a high school and was still in his medical work clothes at the time of his arrest. He identified himself as the uncle of an 8-year-old girl and faced four felony charges, including producing or promoting a performance involving sexual activity by a child.
Some suspects were attempting to force children into prostitution, lived near schools, participated in chat groups, and used various websites. They often brought weapons, drugs, condoms, and sex pills to their meetups, and some lied about their age. The operation highlighted the range of tactics used by these predators.
Sheriff Waters emphasized the priority of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) on the safety and security of children. He noted that as the internet creates new and frightening opportunities for predators, JSO and its partner agencies will continue to proactively identify and apprehend child predators before they can act on their perversions.
The press conference included a video showing the collaborative efforts of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, along with local, state, and federal partners from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, during the five-day “Operation Valiant Knights.” The video provided a visual summary of the arrests and the extensive operation undertaken to protect children from online predators.
