Florida AG James Uthmeier just hit 1,400 child predator takedowns in a single year.
Now he’s standing in Kissimmee announcing 16 more arrests – and warning the predators watching at home that he’s nowhere near finished.
If you think that number shocked them into stopping, you need to hear what he said next.
Sixteen Down, With More in the Crosshairs
Every one of the 16 suspects arrested this week followed the same playbook.
They went online, found someone they believed to be a child, sent explicit messages, and then physically traveled to meet that child for sex.
They were wrong about who they were talking to.
Each now faces felony charges – attempted sexual battery on a minor and solicitation of a minor – carrying decades in prison and lifetime sex offender registration.
The operation pulled in local police departments, sheriff’s offices, and federal partners through Internet Crimes Against Children task forces.
Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Blackmon made the stakes clear: “There is nowhere to hide on the internet.”
Uthmeier didn’t mince words about how these men operate.
“These people are smart,” he said. “They pretend to be children.” They spend weeks or months building a relationship with a kid before making their move.
https://twitter.com/AGJamesUthmeier/status/2039700577882456493?s=20
That patience is the predator’s weapon.
It’s also why Uthmeier isn’t celebrating.
“These 16 are not the last,” he said. “We are actively pursuing those who prey on our children.”
The Platform That Keeps Coming Up
This week’s arrests didn’t happen in a vacuum.
He called Roblox “a predator’s stomping ground.”
That’s not a figure of speech.
Florida issued criminal subpoenas to Roblox after multiple investigations revealed predators using the platform’s in-game currency, Robux, to bribe children into sending sexually explicit images.
Just six weeks ago, Uthmeier announced the arrest and extradition of a Rhode Island man who had used Snapchat and Roblox to groom and exploit a Florida girl – sending her gifts and an iPhone so the child sexual abuse material he produced would be higher quality.
That’s what “grooming” looks like in 2026.
https://twitter.com/AGJamesUthmeier/status/2039402162456015271?s=20
Two weeks ago, Uthmeier turned his attention to Discord – subpoenaing the company for its internal moderation records, complaint logs, and age-verification data.
His deadline for Discord to respond: April 9.
“Many of our criminal investigations into internet child predators lead to one place: Discord,” Uthmeier said.
He’s not done.
What Florida’s Doing That Other States Won’t
Florida isn’t just arresting predators.
It’s dismantling the pipeline.
Governor DeSantis already signed legislation banning children under 14 from social media accounts and requiring parental consent for children 14 and 15.
He recently signed additional legislation increasing penalties for sexual offenses against children.
The numbers show why this matters.
Since Uthmeier took office in February 2025, Florida’s Office of Statewide Prosecution has been linked to more than 1,400 child predator takedowns and participated in over 1,500 child exploitation investigations.
To put that in context: Florida conducts these stings almost every week.
“We always find people,” Uthmeier said.
Every single time.
That’s not a boast – it’s an indictment of the scope of this problem.
Between March 2025 and March 2026, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received over 19.7 million tips nationally – including 626 in Sarasota County alone, with Discord ranking second on the county’s list of offending platforms.
Florida Is the Model. The Question Is Whether Anyone Follows.
The states filing lawsuits against Roblox now – Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana – are following a trail Florida blazed.
As of this month, 146 Roblox child exploitation lawsuits are consolidated in federal court in California.
That number was 85 in January.
Florida’s AG was subpoenaing Roblox while other states were still writing op-eds about online safety.
Roblox spent years telling parents the platform was a safe creative space for children, collected billions in revenue from those children, and sat on the age-verification technology that could have stopped predators from reaching them.
Roblox knew.
They had the technology.
They chose growth over protection.
Uthmeier is making that choice expensive.
The 16 men arrested in Kissimmee this week thought they were the predators.
They were the prey.
And every predator still out there needs to hear what Sheriff Blackmon said Wednesday: “There is nowhere to hide on the internet.”
Sources:
- Florida Attorney General Office, “Attorney General James Uthmeier Announces 16 Arrests in Child Exploitation Sting,” April 1, 2026.
- Florida Attorney General Office, “Attorney General James Uthmeier Launches Investigation into Discord over Child Safety Concerns,” myfloridalegal.com, March 18, 2026.
- Florida Attorney General Office, “Attorney General James Uthmeier Announces Arrest, Extradition of Snapchat, Roblox Child Predator,” myfloridalegal.com, February 9, 2026.
- Florida Attorney General Office, “Attorney General James Uthmeier Issues Criminal Subpoenas to Roblox to Protect Children from Predators,” myfloridalegal.com, October 2025.
- Fox 35 Orlando, “Predator Takedown: Florida AG James Uthmeier Announces 1,400 Arrests of Child Exploitation on Social Media,” March 9, 2026.
- mysuncoast.com, “Florida AG Launches Civil Investigation into Discord over Child Safety Concerns,” March 18, 2026.
