Sheriff T.K. Waters announces 21 arrests in Operation Rescue Our Children. | News4Jax
Published on May 22, 2025 at 3:06 pm
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Twenty-four men have been arrested in a multiagency investigation into the use of the internet to sexually exploit children, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says.
Among those arrested were a Sheriff’s Office employee and an active duty Navy sailor.
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Men arrested in the weeklong Operation Rescue Our Children ranged in age from 21 to 61. All were arrested after they communicated online with undercover investigators who they thought were children, and arranged to meet them for sex, police say.
The arrests included 54-year-old Gregory Bethel, a Sheriff’s Office civilian supply specialist jailed after he thought he was meeting up with a 13-year-old, Sheriff T.K. Waters said.
Bethel was arrested on one count of traveling after using a computer to lure a child, a second-degree felony. He immediately resigned his position and is no longer employed by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, Waters said.
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Bethel also was charged with solicitation of a child and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. He remains jailed on $175,000 bail, jail records show.
Also arrested Saturday was 21-year-old Navy sailor Ray Scarboro, after arranging to meet a 13-year-old child, Waters said. He was charged with soliciting a child via computer to engage in sexual contact, coercing another to become a prostitute, solicitation of a child and unlawful use of a two-way communication device, jail records show.
Others arrested included Kyle Judd, 34, who was already listed as a registered sexual offender after a conviction in Jacksonville in 2017 and year-long sentence. He is an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela, Waters said.
Some of the men were caught with guns or drugs, Waters said.
Ten different agencies, including the FBI, Secret Service and local Sheriff’s Offices, worked on the investigation. All 24 men were arrested in Jacksonville. More arrests are expected, Waters said.
