PINELLAS COUNTY — Fifteen men were arrested on 25 charges during a five-day undercover operation targeting people accused of using the internet to arrange sexual encounters with children, some purported to be as young as four years old, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Bob Gualtieri announced the arrests Monday, September 15, 2026, during a press conference detailing Operation Cyber Shield.
Detectives posed online as minors or as parents offering access to children. Investigators said the suspects communicated with the undercover detectives and, in many cases, traveled to arranged meeting locations believing they would engage in sexual activity with children.
Charges stemming from the operation include traveling to meet a minor, solicitation of a minor, harmful transmission of material to a minor and attempted capital sexual battery.
Gualtieri said the operation comes amid what he described as a significant increase in investigations involving child sexual abuse material.
According to Gualtieri, more than 200 people have been arrested in Pinellas County during the past year on child pornography-related charges involving more than 1,400 counts of possession or distribution.
“This is nuts. It really is and it ruins kids’ lives,” Gualtieri said. “But what is even worse is when the people who view this junk, these videos of kids involved in sex, act on their urge to have sex themselves with these young children.”
Gualtieri said investigators have long maintained that viewing child sexual abuse material can overlap with attempts to sexually abuse children in person.
“We always say that one leads to the other and this operation is proof that that’s what happens,” he said.
The sheriff highlighted several of the arrests during the press conference.
Gregory McKinney
Gregory McKinney, 46, was arrested after investigators said he arrived at a location where he believed he would meet a 7-year-old child for sexual activity.
According to Gualtieri, McKinney had been communicating online with an undercover detective posing as the child’s father and allegedly discussed sexual acts involving the child.
McKinney was charged with traveling to meet a minor and attempted capital sexual battery.
Robert Schwierking
Robert Schwierking, 86, of Palm Harbor, was arrested after arriving at a hotel on U.S. 19, according to the sheriff.
Gualtieri said Schwierking believed he was meeting a father who was offering access to his 4-year-old and 7-year-old children for sexual activity.
Investigators said Schwierking discussed sexual acts involving the children and taking sexually explicit photographs.
He faces two counts of traveling to meet a minor.
Michael Rozum
Michael Rozum, 40, was arrested after arriving at a gas station parking lot where investigators said he expected to meet a 14-year-old child for sexual activity.
According to Gualtieri, Rozum also transmitted sexually explicit photographs during his communications with the undercover detective.
Rozum is an attorney who practices family and personal injury law in the Tampa area, Gualtieri said. The sheriff said PCSO notified The Florida Bar of his arrest.
Rozum was charged with traveling to meet a minor and harmful transmission to a minor.
Christopher Carlson
Christopher Carlson, 51, was arrested after arriving at a location in Palm Harbor where investigators said he believed he would meet a 14-year-old.
Gualtieri said Carlson acknowledged the purported child’s age during online conversations and made sexually explicit statements about what he intended to do.
Investigators said Carlson had Viagra, personal lubricant and a sex toy when he was arrested. He was also allegedly found in possession of methamphetamine.
Carlson was charged with traveling to meet a minor, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Juan Morales Tol
Juan Morales Tol, 36, was also arrested during the operation and charged with traveling to meet a minor.
During the press conference, Gualtieri said the suspect traveled from Palmetto in Manatee County believing he was meeting a 14-year-old girl and acknowledged that he intended to engage in sexual activity with her.
The sheriff said investigators also found child sexual abuse material on his cellphone.
Gualtieri said Morales Tol is a Guatemalan national who had previously been deported from the United States in 2018 and later reentered the country without authorization. According to the sheriff, Morales Tol currently has an asylum proceeding pending, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement was notified following his arrest.
Gualtieri said detectives believe some of the suspects may have previously engaged in similar conduct.
“This isn’t their first rodeo,” Gualtieri said. “This isn’t the first time they did this.”
The sheriff said the nature of the suspects’ communications and conduct caused investigators to believe some had previously arranged encounters involving actual children.
PCSO said the following individuals were arrested during Operation Cyber Shield:
- Darren Angus, 33 — Traveling to Meet a Minor
- Christopher Carlson, 51 — Traveling to Meet a Minor, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Possession of a Controlled Substance
- Connor Collins, 22 — Traveling to Meet a Minor
- Mauro Cruz-Platon, 22 — Traveling to Meet a Minor
- Jonas Jozaities, 28 — Traveling to Meet a Minor
- Douglas Lee, 30 — Traveling to Meet a Minor
- Gregory McKinney, 46 — Traveling to Meet a Minor, Attempted Capital Sexual Battery
- Robert Meli, 58 — Traveling to Meet a Minor, Possession of Oxycodone
- Juan Morales Tol, 36 — Traveling to Meet a Minor
- Christopher-Michael Patterson, 23 — Two counts of Harmful Transmission to a Minor and Solicitation of a Minor
- Michael Rozum, 40 — Traveling to Meet a Minor, Harmful Transmission to a Minor
- Robert Schwierking, 86 — Two counts of Traveling to Meet a Minor
- Jacob Thomas, 34 — Traveling to Meet a Minor, two counts of Harmful Transmission to a Minor
- Christian Vasquez, 21 — Traveling to Meet a Minor
- Fernando Garcia Velez, 29 — Traveling to Meet a Minor
Gualtieri credited detectives and members of the Internet Crimes Against Children task force for investigating cases involving the sexual exploitation of children.
“We’re going to continue to investigate the child pornography cases,” Gualtieri said. “We’re going to continue to do these operations and arrest these people and these predators and hopefully put them where they belong, which is in prison.”
The investigation remains ongoing.
