HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Four days, seven arrests, and a slew of serious charges are what the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) said came from a recent undercover operation.
"So, what our detectives did is they posed as an individual who was basically soliciting their fictitious niece on the internet for anyone who come and pay for sexual acts with that minor," said HCSO spokesperson Amanda Granit.
According to HCSO, between July 25 and July 28, the following men traveled to a home used in the operation "to engage in commercial sex with minors and paid our undercover detectives."
- Ricardo Quezada- Perez, 39
- Kenrick Anthony Jones, 30
- Darryl Latimore III, 28
- Mohamed Kharseity, 26
- Ganesh Gonuguntla, 34
- Hector Enriquez Hernandez, 27
- Efrain Ruiz Diaz, 25
HCSO said those men are facing several charges that include: human trafficking for commercial sexual activity, the use of computer services or devices to solicit certain illegal acts, traveling to meet a minor after using computer services/devices to solicit certain illegal acts, and the unlawful use of two-way communications devices.
It's a sting that comes as ABC Action News learned that a specialized court division aimed at handling trafficking and sex-related cases for juveniles in Hillsborough County was disbanded on June 11.
According to an administrative order from the Chief Judge of the 13th Judicial Circuit Court, Ronald Ficarrotta, that specialized division was dissolved for the "efficient and effective usage of judicial resources."
Another administrative order shows that the cases from that division have been reassigned to other sections of the county's juvenile court.
It's a change raising eyebrows for some trafficking survivors and anti-trafficking advocates, like Holly Harris, who said the need for a specialized court division like this, is huge.
"I really hope that they're going to replace it with something better and I hope that's their effort. Like, this is now becoming such a big thing, like why would they abolish it in the middle of everybody learning about it?" she said.
ABC Action News has reached out to the 13th Judicial Circuit Court in Hillsborough County for more information on why that court was disbanded. We are still waiting to hear back.
In the meantime, HCSO said the best way to protect kids from predators is to have open conversations with them—and to monitor what they're posting online and who they're talking to.
For more information on human trafficking resources in our area, click here.
