Cyber Safety
Learn about the risks of and tactics used by online predators as well as what constitutes a cyber crime and how to report it
Learn how to identify potential threats that could endanger your child as well as important tips and safety measures
Information about protecting yourself while surfing the internet, safeguarding personal information and avoiding potentially dangerous situations
Learn how to protect yourself online while playing games, surfing the internet and having fun
Contact Us
| address: |
Attorney General of Florida The Capitol, PL-01 Tallahassee, FL 32399 |
| phone: | (850) 414-3300 |
| website: | www.myfloridalegal.com |
| online: | Contact Form |
| news: | Weekly Newsletter |
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Press Releases
Attorney General Charlie Crist Press Release
Printer FriendlyCrist: Jacksonville Man Arrested After Traveling to Have Sex with "Child"
TALLAHASSEE - Attorney General Charlie Crist today announced the arrest of a St.Johns County man for using the Internet to solicit a minor to engage in sexual conduct. Anthony J. Heinlein traveled to an arranged location in Jacksonville to pick up a person he believed was a 13-year-old girl, intending to take her home and have sex with her. The "girl" was actually was an undercover CyberCrime investigator with the Attorney General’s Office.
Heinlein, 33, used the computer at a Duval County public library to approach the "girl" in an online chatroom and chatted with her over the course of four days. He repeatedly solicited her for sex, describing with vivid details what he would do if he could bring her to his home. The "girl" agreed to meet him at a Jacksonville gas station, where he was arrested by investigators from the CyberCrime Unit, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and U.S. Immigration and Customs.
"The internet is a valuable tool to gain knowledge, but twisted individuals see it as a way to lure children into a trap," said Crist. "We will continue to use the internet to arrest and prosecute society’s degenerates one-by-one."
Heinlein is being held in the Jacksonville Pre-Trial Detention Facility and if convicted on all counts of computer solicitation of a minor and attempted lewd conduct, faces up to 15 years in prison. He is a convicted felon from New York whose previous criminal record includes arrests for grand theft, burglary of a dwelling, aggravated harassment, assault, domestic assault and battery and grand theft auto. At the time of his arrest, he worked in a garden center at a St. Johns County hardware store.
The CyberCrime Unit's mission statement directs it to protect children from computer-facilitated sexual exploitation. Unit members do this by working cooperatively on a statewide basis with law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to provide resources and expertise, while preventing the spread of these crimes through education and community awareness. Heinlein’s arrest is the 15th made by officers with the unit since its inception in October 2005. The agencies involved in today’s arrest are members of the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Taskforce, a federally funded program working nation-wide to educate and support law enforcement to stop these crimes.