Sheriff: Four Suspected Pedophiles Arrested in Spotsylvania

Images: The suspects include John Howell, Robert Catanzaro, Tyler Martin and Toby Parker. (Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office).

An undercover cyber operation run by Spotsylvania County police has brought about the arrest of four suspected pedophiles, Sheriff Roger L. Harris announced Wednesday.

The arrests were made within the past three months, as the men were allegedly soliciting underage children for sex on Internet chat rooms, according to Harris.

The suspects include Tyler Martin, 21, from Richmond; John Howell, 44, from Fredericksburg; Toby Parker, 46, from Manassas; and Robert Catanzaro, 55, from Fredericksburg, the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office said in the announcement.

Each has been charged with felony counts of indecent liberties and using a communication system to facilitate certain offenses involving children, the sheriff’s office said. It did not give information on whether any suspect is being held in jail, or their next dates in court.

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Each suspect traveled to Spotsylvania to meet with an underage female with the intent of having sexual contact, the sheriff’s office said. But the child in these cases was actually an undercover police detective who had communicated with each suspect online.

The undercover operation was carried out by a unit of detectives in the sheriff’s office that was created to apprehend “predatory suspects who troll the Web in search of child victims,” the statement said.

“The Internet Crimes Against Children Unit has had a great deal of success since its creation and has brought several suspects to justice over the last three years,” Harris said.