JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Twenty-seven men including a former MLB player for the Boston Red Sox and a Mayo Clinic respiratory therapist, were arrested recently during an undercover, multi-agency child sex crimes investigation, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters announced at a news conference on Monday.
The sheriff's office (JSO) said in a release that the arrests were made "during a deployment held over several days in April involving the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Unit along with federal, state, and local law enforcement partners."
JSO calls the deployment/investigation "Operation Valiant Knights," which began on April 24, 2024 and ended on April 28, 2024.
In the operation, Waters said undercover detectives who posed as children, chatted online with the men. He said the men "solicited sexual activity and committed to engaging in sex acts with purported minors at pre-arranged locations" and that their ages range from 19 to 69 years old.
Twenty-four men were arrested at the meet-up locations, according to the sheriff, while three men were arrested after follow-up investigations were conducted.
"These predators were arrested for a combination of serious felonies including coercing sexual activity for human trafficking, which is a first-degree felony," Waters said.
The list of the agencies who collaborated with JSO in the operation is below:
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Homeland Security Investigations
- INTERCEPT Task Force
- Naval Criminal Investigative Service
- Clay County Sheriff's Office
- St. Johns County Sheriff's Office
- Bay County Sheriff's Office
- U.S. Marshals Service
- Florida Department of Law Enforcement
- State Attorney's Office
- U.S. Attorney's Office
Waters highlighted the following men arrested during the operation in the news conference:
- Kevin Pearce, 57 - Waters said Pearce was employed as maintenance worker by Duval County Public Schools and that he traveled to a pre-arranged location with the intent of engaging in sexual conduct with a 13-year-old child. Read more about what he's accused of here.
- Chad Sadlowski, 33 (respiratory therapist with Mayo Clinic) - Waters said Sadlowski traveled to a pre-arranged location with the intent of engaging in sexual activity with an 8-year-old child. Read more about what he's accused of here.
- Austin Maddox (former MLB player for the Red Sox) - Waters said Maddox traveled to a pre-arranged location with the intent of engaging in sexual activity with a 14-year-old child
- Malcolm McGee - Waters said McGee is employed by the Army National Guard as a sergeant, and that he traveled with the intent of engaging in sexual activity with a 14-year-old child
Waters' message to parents after announcing the arrests is to "just pay very close attention" to their kids' internet usage.
"It's very important for us to set as many protections on our computers and to pay attention to what our children are doing," Waters said. "If you don't, sometime these kind of things happen. We do not want our kids being victims of these predators."
