33 arrested for internet crimes against children
Several local agencies worked together on the Operation Summertime Blues sweep.

Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods, at the podium, led a press conference on Tuesday, July 30, which included representatives from a number of other agencies, to provide details about Operation Summertime Blues, in which 33 men were arrested for internet crimes against children. [Photo by Andy Fillmore]
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods held a press conference Tuesday, July 30, to announce the arrest of 33 men for internet crimes against children in a recent six-day sting called Operation Summertime Blues.
The defendants include a former Kids Central employee and another man who finds youth are “easy targets.” Woods said at least two of the defendants were “illegal aliens.”
Woods said officers posed as youth ages 13 to 15 and went “fishing” for offenders. An MCSO spokesperson said after the press conference that officers posing as juveniles had responses from defendants “in minutes” after their posts.
The sting took place between July 22 and July 28.
The Ocala Police Department, Chiefland Police Department, Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Office of Homeland Security were also part of the “unfortunately successful” sting operation, Woods said.
Among the defendants arrested and held on no bond basis was Alberto Quiroz ,32, of southwest Ocala. Quiroz allegedly responded to an officer posing as a 14-year-old girl on a computer app where the two discussed sex and set up a meeting at a local restaurant.
Quiroz was arrested at the meeting site and identification cards indicated he was employed by Kids Central, a Department of Children and Families contractor, the arrest report states.
The defendant told officers he did work at Kids Central and claimed he came to the restaurant to be sure the child “was not one of the children whom he worked with at his agency,” according to an arrest report.
Quiroz was charged with three felonies, including traveling to meet after computer use to lure a child.
Kimberly McGlothern, interim director of community affairs for Kids Central, Inc. wrote in an email that the agency is aware of the arrest “of a former employee.”
“We want to assure the public that we are taking this matter very seriously,” she stated.
“Kids Central is required to conduct thorough background checks and received an eligible background screening result prior to employment. The individual was terminated when Kids Central learned of the arrest,” McGlothern’s email stated.
“The safety and well-being of the children in our system of care is our top priority,” McGlothern wrote.
Oscar Dejesus, 25, of Bowling Green, Florida, set a meeting at a local convenience store in southwest Ocala with an officer posing as a 14-year-old girl for sex acts for $100, according to an arrest document. He had a firearm in his vehicle during the meeting.
Upon his arrest, Dejesus admitted to traveling to meet a supposed juvenile to “act upon his sexual urges,” the arrest document indicates.
Dejesus told officers he had “numerous sexual encounters” with people in Florida, including children under 16. He “made mention of having sexual interest in children because they are easy targets,” according to an arrest document.
Dejesus stands charged with five felonies, including human trafficking of a believed minor and traveling to meet after using a computer to lure a child.
Francisco Alvarez-Tello, 27, had sexually explicit computer communication with an MCSO detective posing as “Stevie” a girl of about 14, who Alvarez-Tello contacted through a post on the escort app “Skip the Games,” according to an arrest document written by an Ocala Police Department corporal who also is an Office of Homeland Security Task Force officer.
The arrest document states Alvarez-Tello traveled to a gas station in the 3200 block of West Silver Springs Boulevard to meet “Stevie” but was met instead by law enforcement.
Alvarez-Tello had no valid driver’s license, had a firearm in his possession and was found to be an “illegal alien,” the arrest document indicates.
Alvarez-Tello faces multiple charges, including travel to meet after using a computer to lure a child.
Alvarez-Tello said the situation leading to the arrest was a “set up” and when asked by an officer why he would drive to “meet a minor for sexual contact,” he said he “took a gamble,” the arrest report indicates.
Woods said internet sex criminals are lurking 24 hours a day and that parents should take note.
“Parents, in just one afternoon of this operation we arrested nine people. Nine people that travelled to meet with a child for sex. Your children are their prey. Know what your child is doing on social media and online gaming,” Woods stated in a press release.
More arrests are expected as a result of Operation Summertime Blues, according to the MCSO press release.