Gainesville Police announced Tuesday the arrest of 21 people – including university students and staff – for reportedly soliciting sex with a minor after the conclusion of a five-day undercover operation.
A Santa Fe professor, a Santa Fe student and two UF students were among the 21 men arrested during Operation Panther, which was conducted by the Internet Crimes Against Children task force, according to police reports.
During the operation, which began last Wednesday and ended Monday, 11 federal and state detectives identified 90 suspects after speaking with more than 2,000 people, said Gainesville Police detective John Madsen, the task force commander.
The 21 men, 13 of whom are Gainesville residents, were arrested after they virtually arranged to meet with officers posing as teenage boys and girls, Madsen said. The men, ranging in age from 19 to 56 years old, traveled anywhere from three minutes to more than an hour to the arranged meetings.
Police arrested Kevin Brian Kasper, 51, who is listed as a math professor on the Santa Fe College website, at about 11:40 p.m. Thursday after he reportedly sent sexual text messages and emails to an officer who was posing as the parent of a 14-year-old girl, according to a police report.
Kasper told the supposed parent that he wanted to have sex with his or her daughter and that he’s had a vasectomy, according to the report.
He reportedly bought Skittles as a gift on his way to meet the officer, according to the report.
“I think that anytime someone is in a position of authority, and more importantly, in a position as a mentor and shows this predisposition, it’s a concern,” Madsen said.
Later that night, police arrested Eugene James Slevin, 19, after he reportedly messaged an officer who was posing as a 13-year-old girl on social media and asked for sex.
Slevin is a Santa Fe student, associate registrar Jennifer Thomas said.
“The more serious the offense, the more serious the ramifications,” said Santa Fe Police Chief Ed Book.
“We do not tolerate victimization of others.”
Two UF students are also among the list of reported offenders. Authorities arrested Andres Felipe Ortiz-Gomez, 22, at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday after he reportedly contacted an officer who was posing as a 14-year-old girl on an e-commerce website.
Ortiz-Gomez is a fifth-year electrical engineering student, but is not currently enrolled, UF spokesman Steve Orlando said.
He walked four miles in the rain to meet the girl after exchanging texts and emails, according to a police report.
Police arrested another UF student, Kaelan Tyler Beddoe, 21, early Monday after he reportedly drove to the Kangaroo Express at 3838 N. Main St. to meet an undercover officer.
He is an interdisciplinary studies junior through agriculture, Orlando said.
Madsen said police arrested Beddoe at about 3:20 a.m. after a two-hour search and discovered he had been following police and lying about his name and car.
Police found a bat, a pair of rubber gloves, a rope and a tarp in Beddoe’s car, a discovery Madsen called “concerning,” but he said Beddoe had not given a reason for having the items in his car. As of press time, it is unclear if the ongoing investigation will have any impact on their status as UF students.
“We don’t have any prescribed sanctions,” Orlando said. “We handle these on a case-by-case basis and take into account a variety of different factors that might affect the outcome for the students.”
Madsen said that Operation Panther — named because a panther is a predator who hunts predators — is the task force’s first operation since Operation Pegasus in July 2013, which saw the arrest of seven Gainesville men. Authorities have been planning the operation since May.
Operations are limited in frequency and length due to budgets and available manpower, Madsen said.
“I think they’re getting smarter,” he said. “We’re having to expend more effort.”
But he said he considers finishing an operation with at least one solid case a success.
“The point is to respond to the threat,” he said. “Having solid cases where we respect the rights of everyone involved and we get a conviction is a success.”
Madsen declined to identify any of the websites used in the operation due to ongoing investigations.
“I’m no longer surprised,” he said after the conference, despite calling some of the described sexual scenarios sadistic. “Rarely, I get surprised anymore.”
Police arrested the men on two charges of obscene communication and one charge for the unlawful use of a two-way communication device. Authorities are meeting with the U.S. Attorney within the next two weeks to determine whether the men will receive federal charges.
Authorities took them to the Alachua County Jail, where they remain as of press time in lieu of $150,000 bonds, except Kasper, whose bond is $75,000. The bonds for the other men range from $75,000 to $300,000.
Contact Giuseppe Sabella at gsabella@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @gsabella
Contact Emily Cochrane at ecochrane@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @ESCochrane
