Man Transferred from Alachua Jail to Marion Jail After Child Predator Sting Operation Nets Another Arrest

The Marion County child predator sting that was announced last month recently brought in another arrest. On July 8, Alachua County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested Hawthorne resident Fanuel Jaimes, 38, and booked him into the Alachua County Jail on a Marion County warrant for using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony, using a computer device to solicit a child, and traveling to meet a child after using a computer device for solicitation. 

Jaimes was transferred to the Marion County Jail on Monday.

On June 1, an undercover detective (U.D.) posing as a 14-year-old girl received a message from an individual later identified as Jaimes through his phone number and a photograph he sent. U.D. explicitly told Jaimes that she was 14 but he continued his sexual advances. Jaimes told U.D. he wanted to have sex with her despite her age and that he would be “ready as soon as tonight.” 

Jaimes said that he would drive to Ocala to pick-up the presumed 14-year-old and said he would bring a cannabis vape for her to smoke. Jaimes got extremely sexually explicit with U.D., describing specific sexual acts he would do to her.

Jaimes agreed to meet U.D. at a speedway gas station. Corporal J. Zezuski reported that the “Takedown” team observed Jaimes drive past the gas station shortly before texting U.D. that he was lost. Jaimes said that the GPS he was using took him to the wrong location. Police confirmed that the address Jaimes was driving to maps to the incorrect location. 

Jaimes told U.D. he saw a large law enforcement presence in the area. The police report indicates that deputies were conducting another child predator sting at the same time Jaimes drove past the location. 

Zezuski reported that Jaimes was not located, prompting a warrant for his arrest. 

Jaimes is currently held in jail without bond.