Volusia Sheriff’s deputies and police arrested seven men during a recent 2-day operation addressing complaints about sexual activity in Volusia County parks.
The undercover operation took place Wednesday and Thursday at several locations: Spruce Creek and Doris Leeper parks in Port Orange, Sleepy Hollow Park in New Smyrna Beach, Lake Beresford Park in DeLand, Lake Dias Park in DeLeon Springs, Thornby Park in Deltona, and Mariner’s Cove and Green Springs parks in Enterprise.
Deputies in plain clothes and in uniform observed each defendant expose himself and begin a sex act before being taken into custody.
One of the defendants, Daniel S. Osborne, was found to be on felony probation for attempted first-degree murder.
Another defendant was discovered to have a similar arrest in June 2017 at Valentine Park in Orange City. In that incident, deputies arrested him for lewd and lascivious exhibition in the presence of a mother and two children, ages 2 and 4, who were at the park.
Those arrested in the Central Florida operation include:
- a New Smyrna Beach man, exposure of sexual organ and violation of probation for attempted first-degree murder
- a man from Sheridon, Illinois, exposure of sexual organ
- a Daytona Beach man, exposure of sexual organ
- a DeLand man, exposure of sexual organ
- another DeLand man, exposure of sexual organ
- a Deltona man, exposure of sexual organ
- another Deltona man, exposure of sexual organ
In addition to their criminal charges, each defendant was issued a trespass warning for the park they visited.
The operation was a joint effort including members of the East and West Volusia Crime Suppression Teams, Deltona Crime Suppression Team, and the East Volusia Narcotics Task Force.
Police said that similar operations will be conducted in the future to deter lewd activity in public parks in Volusia County.
