Florida "Santa Claus" arrested in undercover child sex sting, sheriff says
Thomas Hicks, 68, of Lakeland, faces numerous charges including human trafficking and using a computer to seduce a child.
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Thomas Hicks, 68, of Lakeland, faces numerous charges including human trafficking and using a computer to seduce a child.
A witness said he pulled the girl from a pool unconscious and foaming at the mouth.
Carolyn Miller from the Fort Walton Beach area was arrested after Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a disturbance on Tuesday at around 6:30 p.m.
Melirose Joncky, 42, was arrested after a school counselor called police when the second grader arrived at class with visible injuries.
The mother, 30-year-old Annie Rivera, shed tears as she listened to Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy Glazer.
Joel Kohnert, 44, a BSO Fire Rescue lieutenant hired in 2010, and his wife, Jennifer Kohnert, face charges.
The office issued a subpoena for information relating to the marketing of children, enforcing age-verification requirements, content moderation, parental control features, and reporting of exploitative activity, according to the press release.
Elizabeth Garcia, Mason's maternal grandmother, is now caring for his two younger siblings. She used the tragedy to advocate for greater legal rights for grandparents to intervene in situations involving a child's safety.
Sunrise police were called by the Uber driver, who said the woman was drunk when she left her two kids, 3 and 4 years old, in the man's car.
"Roblox broke the trust of parents and my office will make sure they answer for it," Florida's attorney general said.
A Miami man who claimed to be an ICE agent was arrested in the Florida Keys for DUI and child endangerment, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office said.
Investigators said Jessica Copeland left a child alone for two weeks, along with several emaciated animals living in poor conditions.
A missing child alert has been issued after a South Florida family told authorities they had not seen their baby niece since December of last year.
A record heat wave that spread across the East Coast of the United States during the first week of summer has child advocates warning parents and caretakers about the risks of heatstroke to children left inside hot vehicles. So far this year, nine children have died after being left unattended in vehicles in California, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, New Mexico, New Jersey and North Carolina, according to Kids and Car Safety, which collects data on hot car deaths. Five died in June.
The Saint Lucie County Sheriff's Office said Rhonda Polynice, 41, believed God told her to exorcise the demons out of her 6-year-old child.
The man has prior charges in California and Florida related to kidnapping, stalking and luring or enticing a minor.
Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office detectives said the investigation led them to Joel Nunez's home.
Two parents were arrested for child neglect after being found unresponsive in a running vehicle with their 18-month-old child unattended in the back seat.
A school bus driver is accused of assaulting a 6-year-old boy and allowing other children to bully him.
A Miami Beach mother accused of child neglect after her five children were found living in squalid conditions said she is determined to make things right.
Two parents face child neglect charges after their five children were found living in "squalid conditions," according to Miami Beach police.
Child was dropped off at Panda Little Academy by man driving vehicle.
Newly released body camera video shows the moment a Marion County deputy was ambushed and repeatedly stabbed during a violent attack in Dunnellon.
The crew of the Tahoma, a 270-foot Coast Guard cutter, made the interdictions about 90 miles off the coast of Cartagena, Colombia.
South Florida's wet season officially starts Friday, but the typical pattern of scattered showers and storms will ramp up Sunday and continue next week.
A driver died Friday after a yellow flatbed truck rear-ended a stopped box truck on southbound U.S. 27 near Krome Avenue, causing major traffic backups.
New Florida congressional districts backed by Gov. DeSantis are facing a court challenge arguing it violates the state's ban on partisan gerrymandering.
Newly released body camera video shows the moment a Marion County deputy was ambushed and repeatedly stabbed during a violent attack in Dunnellon.
The crew of the Tahoma, a 270-foot Coast Guard cutter, made the interdictions about 90 miles off the coast of Cartagena, Colombia.
South Florida's wet season officially starts Friday, but the typical pattern of scattered showers and storms will ramp up Sunday and continue next week.
The NFL has officially released the Miami Dolphins' full 2026 schedule, including preseason matchups and all 18 weeks of the regular season.
A driver died Friday after a yellow flatbed truck rear-ended a stopped box truck on southbound U.S. 27 near Krome Avenue, causing major traffic backups.
In courtroom testimony, Shandelle Maycock recounted the harrowing night her daughter was abandoned in the Everglades, describing the horrors they endured.
A former prison guard trainee has been sentenced to death for the 2019 execution-style killings of five women inside a Florida bank.
Florida coach Billy Napier is getting a fourth season to try to get the Gators back to their winning ways.
A Florida man has filed a federal lawsuit against Jacksonville sheriff's officers who severely beat him last year after he ran from a traffic stop.
The Marion County Sheriff's deputy told authorities that he accidentally shot and killed his girlfriend while cleaning his gun.
ICE has released the wife of an active-duty U.S. soldier after a month in detention, her husband told CBS News.
The potential indictment — which must be approved by a grand jury — is expected to focus on Cuba's 1996 downing of two planes operated by a humanitarian group.
The launch is being backed by the American Mexican Leadership Council, a new national organization also debuting Thursday to elevate Mexican American leadership and advance U.S.-Mexico collaboration.
The Senate unanimously agreed to adopt a resolution on Thursday that will withhold senators' pay during a lapse in funding for any federal agency.
A ship was taken by unknown parties toward Iranian waters after an Indian-flagged vessel was attacked off Oman.
CBS News Miami has confirmed from multiple sources that the Miami Dade State Attorney's office is investigating A3.
State Senator Rosalind Osgood is urging Wasserman Schultz not to run in Florida's 22nd Congressional district.
In an interview on Facing South Florida, Wasserman Schultz said the Governor's efforts to redraw the maps will almost certainly violate the Fair Districts constitutional amendment voters in Florida passed in 2010.
Several commissioners have raised questions about how the center would be funded in future years.
The center – which was promised to voters back in 2004 – would take mentally ill individuals out of the jail and move them into a place where they can receive comprehensive treatment and support.
A New York native is among 16 American passengers who are quarantining in Nebraska after being on the cruise ship that is at the center of the deadly hantavirus outbreak.
The head of the World Health Organization says "our work is not over" to contain hantavirus after evacuations from a cruise ship hit by a deadly outbreak of the illness.
An American on the repatriation flight began showing symptoms of hantavirus and another "tested mildly PCR positive for the Andes virus," the Department of Health and Human Services says.
More than 100 people from a cruise ship dealing with an outbreak of the rare and deadly hantavirus are set to be disembarked.
In 2002, Zermeño found out he contracted hantavirus after cleaning the family house following the death of his mother and sister. He had been exposed to rodent droppings and became infected.
AARP is sounding the alarm because it is so easy to fall for these schemes, but there are simple things everyone can do to protect themselves.
A lawsuit filed late last month took Chicago-based McDonald's to task over the McRib sandwich, calling its name a form of false advertising.
Florida insurance policyholders could be seeing some form of relief in their wallets thanks to market reforms made statewide, Gov. Ron DeSantis said.
The company said Tuesday that 85% of its retail products and "nearly all" of its school offerings are already made without "certified colors."
Less than two days after Delta Air Lines offered $30,000 to each passenger on board the flight that crashed and flipped in Toronto on Monday afternoon, the company is facing its first two lawsuits in the incident — and they likely won't be the last.
The Library of Congress revealed this year's list of 25 recordings to be preserved for future generations on the National Recording Registry.
"The Devil Wears Prada 2" edges out "Mortal Kombat II" at the North American box office this weekend.
A trial in the lawsuit between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni was set to begin later in May.
The performance followed similar shows by Madonna in 2024 and Lady Gaga last year on one of the world's most iconic waterfronts.
Attending this year's Kentucky Derby meant more for thoroughbred expert Mark Toothaker, who suffered a seizure from laughing at a whiffed NFL field goal attempt that led to a lifesaving diagnosis.