[ MUGSHOTS: Jacksonville child sex sting ]
21 people -- including a St. Johns County third grade teacher -- arrested for asking teens for sex during an undercover child sex sting. Watch @BridgetteANjax's full report on CBS47 at 5.
A St. Johns County elementary school teacher was among 21 people arrested during a weeklong child sex sting in Jacksonville, officials announced Monday.
The 21 men were arrested in Operation Watchdog, an undercover operation by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and other law enforcement officials.
Suspects who ranged in age from 21 to 61 years old were arrested after they arranged to meet 14-year-old boys and girls for sex, officers said.
St. Augustine elementary school teacher arrested
Kyle Parmenter, a third grade associate teacher at Palencia Elementary School, was among the 21 men arrested.
Parmenter contacted an undercover detective who he thought was a teen on the social network MeetMe, according to his arrest report.
Parmenter texted the undercover detective, who told him he was 14 years old several times, according to the report.
Parmenter asked for pictures of the teen and sent a photo of himself to the undercover detective's phone, the report said.
The report said Parmenter asked the teen if she had ever had sex and if she wanted to have sex with him. He asked the teen to come over now, according to the arrest report.
The detective gave Parmenter several excuses about why the teen couldn't come over and Parmenter asked for nude photos of the teen, the report said.
He tried to convince the teen several times then ended the conversation, the report said.
Parmenter was arrested after detectives used his cellphone number and photos to identify him. He was suspended from his job with pay pending the outcome of the investigating, school officials said.
Allen Anderson, principal of Palencia Elementary School, notified parents about Parmenter's arrest on Monday.
Full statement:
Palencia Elementary Families,
I would like to begin by reiterating that our first priority at PES is always the safety of our students. As was reported this morning, Mr. Parmenter, one of our staff members has been arrested as a suspect in an online child sex sting. We were made aware of his potential involvement last week and worked in cooperation with the St. Johns Sheriff's Office (SJSO) and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO). We immediately took action as a district by suspending Mr. Parmenter with pay pending the outcome of our internal investigation which is standard procedure. The investigation by the lead agency, JSO, was ongoing last week and we were directed not to provide any information that would hinder their efforts in this operation. Mr. Parmenter has not been on campus since we were contacted by the SJSO.
At this time we know what we have read and heard in the media and from the JSO press conference held earlier today with regard to the scope of the investigation.
Student safety at PES is paramount and is a regular topic of discussion among staff, parents and students. I have made the request to the district office to have counselors on standby in the event that we need their assistance tomorrow. I appreciate your continued support and dedication as we work through this difficult situation.
Operation Watchdog nets 21 arrests
Operation Watchdog was conducted in Jacksonville from May 3 to 8.
Most of the suspects were from Jacksonville but several traveled to Jacksonville to meet the teens for sex, officials said.
One man, a sex offender from Georgia, traveled to Jacksonville to try to meet an underage boy for sex.
Officers arrested the suspects at the arranged meeting point. They face felony charges for soliciting minors for sexual activity.
Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said one of the suspects is facing additional charges including battery on a law enforcement officer after he tried to flee.
Williams said he rammed several officers' patrol cars while trying to get away and also became violent during his arrest.
3 Jacksonville-area men arrested in Volusia sting
Two men from the Jacksonville area and one from Palatka were among 14 people arrested in a five-day child sex sting in Volusia County, officials announced Monday.
Deputies said William Parshall, 58, drove from Jacksonville to meet a young girl for sex in Volusia County.
Parshall, a retired U.S. Navy civilian logistics employee, said he’s had multiple contacts with juvenile females while chatting online daily for approximately three years.
Deputies said Parshall booked a hotel room in Daytona Beach for his encounter, and detectives found condoms in the nightstand and a vibrator hidden in the bedsheets. They said they also located a pair of vibrating underwear under the driver’s seat of his car.
Robert A. Knuckles, 59, drove to Volusia from Palatka, and Jamahl Barnabas-Heath, 22, drove from Orange Park to meet who they thought were teens for sex, deputies said.