MARYLAND - An undercover operation targeting child predators led to the arrests of three Maryland men in April, according to the Talbot County's Sheriff's Office.
Police say starting the week of April 12, the operation targeted predators who were sexually exploiting children online. They say the men arrested were talking to children online in sexually-explicit and harmful ways, even though they were told they were talking to kids.
Talbot deputies say the men continued to make plans to meet who they thought were children for "sexual activity," and all three were arrested when they went to the meeting spot in the Easton area.
Jason Towers, 44, from Denton; Selvin Miranda-Miranda, 27, from Chester; and Andrew Jenkins, 26, from Berlin were all charged with one count of sexual solicitation of a minor. Towers and Miranda-Miranda were ordered to be held without bond, and Jenkins was released on a $25,000 unsecured bond.
The Talbot County Sheriff's Office encourages parents to discuss the dangers of talking to strangers on the internet with their children and to keep an eye on their kids' online activity.
The operation was led by the Talbot County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Division, in collaboration with the FBI Baltimore Field Office's Maryland Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, Easton Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division, and the Talbot County State's Attorney's Office.
