Following a multi-agency investigation, 12 suspects were arrested and charged with seducing a minor to engage in sexual conduct, traveling to meet a minor for sexual activity, and using a two-way communication device to commit a felony.
“These suspects asked for lewd photos and communicated in graphic sexual terms. Luckily our FDLE agents and analysts, along with our partners, found them before they found our children. And while this operation is finished, we are not. The work of these investigators continues because we know there are more predators out there just waiting for the opportunity to hurt a child.”
During the multi-day operation, suspects communicated with undercover investigators posing as juveniles.
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Each suspect was told they were communicating with a teenager, but chose to engage in sexually explicit conversations anyway, asking for lewd photos and discussing how they planned to be sexually active with the “child.”
Following the conversations, the suspects drove to meet the investigators, thinking they were meeting 13 and 14-year-old children to engage in sexual activity.
Arrests:
- Darryl Lamont Hart, 57, Pensacola, arrested 2/23/24, booked into Escambia County Jail;
- Clayton Patrick Costello, 37, Hoover, Alabama, arrested 2/24/24, booked into Escambia County Jail;
- Randy Edgar Powell, 52, Pensacola, arrested 2/24/24, booked into Escambia County Jail;
- Telvan Latrell Williams, 28, Mobile, Alabama, arrested 2/24/24, booked into Escambia County Jail;
- Kriss Lashawn Gilmore, 31, Foley, Alabama, arrested 2/24/24, booked into Escambia County Jail;
- Alex Michael Durlock, 24, Fort Walton Beach, arrested 2/25/24, booked into Escambia County Jail;
- Jordan Christopher Belton, 28, Pensacola, arrested 2/25/24, booked into Escambia County Jail;
- Raphael Rochelle Brooks, 39, Robertsdale, Alabama, arrested 2/25/24, booked into Escambia County Jail;
- William John Nordstrom, 64, Pensacola, arrested 2/25/24, booked into Escambia County Jail;
- Eric Wintin Long, 33, Montgomery, Alabama, arrested 2/26/24, booked into Escambia County Jail;
- Patrick Jay Dehnel, 33, Slidell, Louisiana, arrested 2/28/24, booked into Escambia County Jail;
- Jamaine Antonia Johnson, 32, Pensacola, arrested 3/4/24, booked into Escambia County Jail.
Read: Polk County Sheriff Charges 8 Suspects With Child Sex Crimes, Dunedin Man Wanted
“Working together, the FBI and our local law enforcement partners have prevented these predators from victimizing the most innocent and vulnerable members of our community,” said FBI Jacksonville’s Acting Special Agent in Charge Mark Dargis. “Let these arrests be a warning to others – law enforcement will not tolerate the exploitation of children, and we will be relentless in our efforts to identify and locate predators who seek to abuse them.”
“These predators preyed on the innocence of children by knowingly engaging in lewd and lascivious online conduct, only to take it a step further and agreeing to meet in person and turn those conversations into action,” said Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) Tallahassee Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno. “Operation Kessel Run was a successful joint investigation, but there is still more work that must be done. HSI, alongside our law enforcement partners, will never rest in identifying, investigating, and prosecuting predators who seek to use children for their perverse behaviors and make them lifelong victims.”
For more information on how to protect your child online, please visit https://secureflorida.org/.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), State Attorney Ginger Bowden Madden, the Escambia and Santa Rosa county sheriff's offices, the Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach police departments, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI), Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), and the United States Marshals Service all took part in the operation.
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