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Florida teen rescued, 171 arrested, including a Chamberlain H.S. instructor during undercover sting
Updated October 30, 2025 5:19pm EDT

TAMPA, Fla. - One hundred and seventy-one people were arrested, and one teenage girl was rescued during the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office’s "Operation Unmasking Predators."

The backstory:
In July, Sheriff Chronister met with investigators and asked them to focus their efforts on individuals who want to exploit children in the community for sex. "There were times when we posed as a person trying to purchase sex with a child," Chronister said. "There were times as we were advertising that we had the child available for the purchase of sex." He wanted to concentrate those efforts through Halloween. "The individuals who tried to hide under the concealment of the darkness in the dark web, a light was shined upon them because of these investigators," Chronister said.

By the numbers:
The sheriff noted that there are 175 sexual predators under supervised release in the community and each one of them was in compliance and reminded that they cannot participate in any Halloween activities. "That’s 171 individuals who met the fate of an undercover detective and was placed under arrest," Chronister explained. "That was 171 potential children in this community who would have been exploited and their lives changed forever."

During a press conference on Thursday morning, Chronister highlighted four of what he referred to as the more egregious cases.
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