CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — Clay County Sheriff Michelle Cook announced the arrests of 10 people in 'Operation Shining Light' Wednesday morning as the individuals are each accused of sexually exploiting children.
The "physical" operation, Cook says, which happened from Aug. 2, 2023 through Aug. 6, continued through the 6th, as multiple law enforcement agencies still had to conduct interviews, subpoenas and search warrants. Cook says the operation's primary goal was to identify and arrest individuals who were using the internet to sexually exploit children.
During Operation Shining Light, investigators and agents went undercover as children online to uncover and capture individuals involved in child sexual exploitation. Cook says "chatters" were posing and pretending to be 13 or 14-year-old children.
As a result of the operation, the following 10 people were arrested for attempting to sexually exploit minors:
- Bryan Brandon Martinez, 19, Crescent City - Charged with soliciting a child for unlawful sexual conduct using computer services or devices, unlawful use of a two-way communications device and traveling to meet a minor to commit an unlawful sexual act. Martinez's bond has been set at $450,000.
- Luke Joshua Parrish, 30, Jacksonville - Charged with soliciting a child for unlawful sexual conduct using computer services or devices, soliciting a child for unlawful sexual conduct using computer services or devices through a parent, custodian or legal guardian, unlawful use of a two-way communications device and traveling to meet a minor to commit an unlawful sexual act. Parish's bond has been set at $600,012.
- Scott Christopher Smith, 39, Jacksonville - Charged with soliciting a child for unlawful sexual conduct using computer services or devices, unlawful use of a two-way communications device and traveling to meet a minor to commit an unlawful sexual act. Smith's bond has been set at $300,009.
- Detavious Denard McDuffie, 26, Rhine, Georgia - Charged with soliciting a child for unlawful sexual conduct using computer services or devices, unlawful use of a two-way communications device and traveling to meet a minor to commit an unlawful sexual act. McDuffie's bond has been set at $300,009.
- Marc Conner Jubin, 27, Jacksonville - Charged with soliciting a child for unlawful sexual conduct using computer services or devices, unlawful use of a two-way communications device and traveling to meet a minor to commit an unlawful sexual act. Juven's bond has been set at $350,009.
- Eric Jayson Torres Jiminez, 38, Jacksonville - Charged with soliciting a child for unlawful sexual conduct using computer services or devices, unlawful use of a two-way communications device and traveling to meet a minor to commit an unlawful sexual act. Hernandez's bond has been set at $450,009.
- Reginald Renaldo Jefferson Jr., 29, Jacksonville - Charged with soliciting a child for unlawful sexual conduct using computer services or devices, unlawful use of a two-way communications device, traveling to meet a minor to commit an unlawful sexual act and fleeing and eluding police. Jefferson's bond has been set at $400,012.
- Shawn Lei Burge, 49, Tallahassee - Federally charged with online enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity and distribution of child pornography
- Jason Charles Nicholas, 53, Ramona, California - Federally charged with distribution of sexual abuse materials
- Jose Luis Gonzalez Jr., 33, Georgia - Gonzalez was arrested in Gainesville, Georgia, and was federally charged with five counts of distribution of child sexual abuse materials
Operation Shining Light was a collaborative effort done by the Clay County Sheriff's Office, Homeland Security Investigations, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, the States Attorneys' Office 4th Judicial Court, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, the Orange Park Police Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office Middle District of Florida.