Bay County Sherriff's Office Make Arrest

Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford announced today the arrest of a Panama City Beach man for Traveling To Meet A Minor For Sexual Activity and Solicitation of A Minor For Sexual Activity. This arrest brings the number of arrests to 20 from Operation Safe Summer.

Between July 17 and July 20, investigators from multiple agencies came together for Operation Safe Summer, an operation designed to identify and apprehend those who would use the internet to prey on children. During the operation, Andre Thorpe, 32 years old, of Panama City Beach, made contact with who he believed to be a 15 year-old child, and solicited sexual acts with the child. Based on his deceit during the communications, there wasn't enough evidence to arrest Thorpe at the time, however investigators kept working to obtain moreevidence against him. The diligent work of the investigators led to probable cause for the issuance of warrants against him for the charges listed above.

August 5th, Thorpe was located and taken into custody on the outstanding warrants. He was booked into the Bay County Jail and will have his first appearance in front of a Bay County Judge tomorrow.

Sheriff Ford would like to thank Homeland Security Investigations, as well as the US Marshal's Service for their assistance in this investigation and remind those who intend to prey on children of the continued determination of the BayCounty Sheriff's Office to combat the exploitation of our most vulnerable citizens.