Davis, Perez
A Live Oak man and a Gainesville man were arrested in the past week following attempts to lure and exploit children online.
According to a Lake City Police Department release, 27-year-old Herminio Perez, of Live Oak, was arrested after he traveled to Lake City to meet with a juvenile he met through a social media platform used by gay men to solicit sex. Perez was arrested Dec. 7.
Khloe Davis, a 23-year-old man from Gainesville, was arrested Friday by the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office after he arranged to meet someone she believed to be a juvenile male.
A warrant has been issued for Patrick Taylor, a 23-year-old man from Jacksonville, on nine counts of transmitting harmful information to a minor, two counts of use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony and two counts of use of a computer to seduce/solicit/lure a child.
The arrests and the warrant come after LCPD detectives worked with officers from the Internet Crime Against Children Florida Task Force on an undercover operation in Lake City. According to the LCPD release, more arrests are expected.
“I would like to remind parents to be involved in their children’s online activities,” Lake City Police Chief Gerald Butler said in the release, also thanking the Alachua, Columbia, Hamilton and Suwannee sheriff’s offices as well as the Jasper Police Department and Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
LCPD advised parents to follow five tips to keep their children safe online:
- Set up devices, accounts and passwords;
- Monitor online use and connections;
- Parental approval of apps and games;
- Restrict content and permissions; and
- Start the conversation.
Both Davis and Perez were charged with transmitting information harmful to minors, use of a 2-way communication device to facilitate a felony and use of a computer to seduce/solicit/lure a child.
Perez is also charged with traveling to meet after use of a computer to lure a child.