TAMPA - The state attorney general's newest CyberCrime office opened Wednesday in Tampa, an initiative the agency said will bolster efforts to nab sexual predators online.
"There is nothing more important in our state than protecting our children from these sick predators," Attorney General Bill McCollum said at the opening of the Child Predator CyberCrime Unit. It's at 3507 E. Frontage Road, south of Spruce Street and east of Memorial Highway.
At Wednesday's ribbon-cutting ceremony and news conference, investigators demonstrated how they hunt child predators online. Investigator Grettel Chavarria said that when she chats online, she assumes the identity of a 13-year-old girl.
Tampa's CyberCrime unit includes a prosecutor, local law enforcement officers and victim's advocates who work together to apprehend Internet predators and educate the community about online safety, the state attorney general's office said.
"I want to give this warning to predators: If we haven't arrested you yet, we will," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at the CyberCrime unit's opening. "You leave our children alone."
The attorney general's office plans to expand the CyberCrime unit statewide. The Tampa office joins three others - the headquarters in Jacksonville and field offices in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.
McCollum said a fifth office will open in northwest Florida this month.
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